Far From Home
by Sheppard Studios
Summary: [C] Three years after a successful Lylat War campaign, Star Fox has disbanded due to financial reasons, and Fox has been drowning in fame and publicity due to his heroic exploits. Desperate to get away from the idolization and the lack of opportunity, he leaves Corneria in an attempt to start over. He doesn't know half of what he's gotten himself into.
1. Chilling

**A/N: I'm back! And this time with a new, unique twist on an old fan favorite. You see what I mean soon. :)**

**Anyway, this story may be a bit different from what you guys may expect from me. You guys might have expected a tense and suspenseful update to First Contact, but I decided to change it up a bit and start a story that's a little... well... you'll see.**

**So, that being said, I would like to hear from you guys what you think of this. I'm not used to writing a story like this, that being it less tense and more loose, so I'd like as much feedback as possible. You guys haven't disappointed in terms of feedback for me, and I'd like to see that trend continue.  
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**I believe I've said enough, so I leave you at that. And guys, please be generous with the feedback. I'd really love to know what you guys think. So, sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy the first chapter of "Far From Home". Take care you guys; I'll see you next time.**

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Fox shivered as he tightened his white nylon jacket and sunk his neck down into his soft crimson scarf, stepping out of his small apartment building and onto the sidewalk.

"Isn't it supposed to be summer?" he mumbled to himself as he turned and walked down the street. "It's pretty cold for summer."

The orange vulpine was right, but he wasn't at the same time. He was right about it being summer, and he was also correct in assuming it should have been warm. Even on the first of September in the human's dating scale, it shouldn't have been as cold as it actually was. Well, it would have been warm, if he wasn't standing in the middle of Storrs, Connecticut on a windy, overcast day in the middle of a below-average temperature swing.

_Storrs, Connecticut; September 1st, 2023; 9:04 A.M._ That's where twenty-one-year-old Fox McCloud was in time and space. At five foot eight and roughly one hundred and fifty-five pounds, he fit in with the Earth city and population relatively well stature-wise. The only thing that made him stick out were the things that were literally sticking out. Underneath his white hood that he had swiftly thrown over his head to protect himself from the unusually cold wind were two light brown vulpine ears. A long, cream colored muzzle jutted out just under his pale, emerald green eyes. His shaggy eyebrows and long mohawk contained the same light cream colored pigment, along with his entire face coated in a thick coat of light brown fur. That same color of brown, almost orange fur coated every square inch of his frame, including the long, bushy tail that jutted out from his waistline and ended just above his ankles, with that cream color returning for the tip of it.

Even though the vulpine had been living alone in a small apartment that the United States' government had lent him for just over a week now, he had already felt accustomed to the humans. The humans ranged in size and stature, but all of them didn't vary too much from the vulpine's size. Granted, the humans were not Cornerians at all, but most of their characteristics stayed relatively the same. Their faces were flat, except for a small rounded protrusion that stuck out above their mouth. Their eyes were a bit smaller than his, as well as their teeth, ears, and mouth, but they could still see, hear, speak, and eat just as well as he could. Nobody had any fur, except for a few of the males that he would see every now and again that had a patch of varying colored fur surrounding their mouth, cheeks, and neck. Most, if not all had hair; some much more than others in some cases. Even with all of these differences, Fox still didn't mind his new company.

He just wished he could say the same about everyone else.

Everywhere he went he would be watched by countless pairs of eyes. Most of them stayed in silence, but others had whispered to each other, questioning who, or sometimes even _what_ he was. He didn't blame them at all though; guaranteed no one on this planet had seen such a species as himself. He admitted he was different than everyone else, but some of the words that the humans had whispered behind his back that he just managed to pick up were relatively derogatory, rudimentary, judgmental, and all-in-all uncalled for. He had heard words like "dog", "furry", "anthro", and "fur-ball", amongst other things that he preferred not to restate.

Although the different species, culture, customs, and lifestyle titles hung over him like a giant neon sign in the middle of a bustling metropolitan city, he still knew what he wanted on a planet light years from home. He wanted a new opportunity.

A new life.

He and some of his closest friends back home had managed to band up to eliminate an evil mad scientist that had initiated war on his home system, and succeeded in bringing peace back to their world. Star Fox was a huge success, and the members were praised as heroes for a very long time even after the war's end. However, that event three years ago was the last majorly eventful thing that happened in the vulpine's life up until now. There was no need for a mercenary group in Lylat anymore ever since Andross had been destroyed. That meant that business for Star Fox would be extremely slow, and that slow business eventually put Star Fox under. The tod's family business went bankrupt, and was forced to disband forever. Peppy had reapplied for a position in the CDF, but it seemed as though Falco and Slippy vanished off the face of Corneria after he had no other choice but to let them go.

A victim of constant depression, overwhelming loneliness, an extreme lack of opportunity, and just overall boredom, Fox desperately tried to find a way to reestablish himself in the world. One main thing that he wanted to do was to get back into his education, due to the fact that he was forced to drop out of Corneria High when war broke out. After his heroic exploits, he had never gone back to complete his formal education. You would think that the hero of the gruesomely violent Lylat War would be a shoo-in for the numerous universities on Corneria, but in reality nobody would accept him. That drop-out was a stain on his education record, and most schools looked at that one stain and turned him away, disregarding who he actually was and the circumstances that the drop-out was based upon.

The loneliness factor was a huge reason to restart. Granted, everyone on Corneria absolutely adored him ever since his heroic exploits. However, put the word 'adored' into quotations. Putting it into basic words; they loved his name and what he did, not him and who he actually was. And since _everyone_ in the _entire_ Lylat System knew who he was, it was hard to come across someone that appreciated his person, not his actions. Most of his previous "relationships" that he had with some of the women back on Corneria always ended the same way, and he preferred not to think about some of them. They wanted his name, his status, even sometimes his sexuality, but none of them actually cared for who he was; and that's how it was for two years after Star Fox disbanded. Everywhere he went he was flocked by desperate women or paparazzi journalists pleading him to get back into action.

His patience was being tested.

Although he still had a few friends from his days back in the academy that he still cared about, they were all overshadowed by the copious amounts of publicity he had received. He still kept in contact with them, mainly because those people were the only ones that were friends with him, and not actually there to tag along to get a piece of his fame. They actually cared for him. He got along with them very well, but, as stated before, the fame hindered his ability to interact with them. As a matter of fact, the fame ruined his relationship with one of them, and it pained him to even think about the incident. All he was trying to do was keep them away from the disease of fame too, and the only way he could have done that was to pretty much limit his socialization entirely. Thus the depression and loneliness set in.

It snapped his patience in half.

With his publicity at an all-time high, his friends growing more and more distant, and his emotions taking a heavier toll than he had previously anticipated, the vulpine essentially said "screw it," and packed up everything he had to his name and left. He just wanted to get away from the plague of celebrity life and the pain of inopportunity and start over, and this was the only alternative he could have executed without going to the extreme. He wanted to go somewhere where the people there didn't swarm him with questions and pictures everywhere he went. He wanted to live a normal life.

His journey of restarting his life took him out of Corneria, completely out of Lylat, and to an entirely different planetary system light years away, specifically to a planet referred to by the local population as Earth.

As soon as Fox stepped foot on Earth, he instantly recognized the similarities with this planet to Corneria. The air was fresh and clean, the water was the same as well, and the planet was a perfect hybrid of technologically advanced cities, luscious forests, and stunning wildlife much like his own homeworld. Granted, Earth was far less advanced than Corneria was, but it was still a breathtakingly beautiful planet nonetheless. It only took the vulpine a few hours to get accustomed to the new planet after arriving for the first time, considering gravity and air quality was roughly the same between both planets.

Upon his arrival, the planet's inhabitants, referred to as the humans, were surprisingly courteous and helpful with the vulpine. As a matter of fact, he was surprised that the humans didn't thoroughly question him about military actions or just force him to leave entirely after landing. The nation that he had landed at, which he eventually learned was called the United States, cooperated with him fully; giving him everything he needed to have a pleasant stay on the planet. They even offered to give him a bit of personal protection, but he politely declined, saying, "You don't need to protect someone who can easily protect himself. Trust me."

Speaking of the nation's cooperation, Fox (at his own request) was unanimously accepted into the University of Connecticut a few days after his arrival, and was even given a place to stay right within campus grounds. They admitted him on a full scholarship in their engineering program, mainly because he was rather curious on the human's way of engineering. He wanted to see if he could gain some extra skills that everyone else on Corneria were never taught. This finally fulfilled his desire for extra education.

All of that aside, he was finally beginning to start the next chapter of his life, and although he was light years away from home and anyone he had ever cared about, he couldn't be happier.

His small apartment was just a six or seven minute walk from the college campus, maybe five if he was in a hurry. Even Fox himself was struck with awe upon his first look at the beautiful picturesque campus grounds. There were breathtaking views and gorgeous scenery everywhere he looked, with some easily accessible ways of entertainment not too far away as well. However, all Fox wanted to do right now was make it to the first class of the day without being marked tardy on his first day of university life. It was already embarrassing as it was, being the only Cornerian on a human campus, but it'd be even worse if he was late to a lecture.

As late as it actually was in the morning, Fox was over twenty minutes early for his first class. The lecture hall wasn't the biggest building on the campus, and he actually preferred its smaller size. His only hope was that the class itself wasn't completely overflowing with students. Even though he had put his life on the line by wiping out Andross back on his home system, he was still nervous. His anxiety levels were high, mainly because he was uncertain on how the humans would respond to such a different student on the campus with them. He hoped he wouldn't be publicly idolized like he was back home, and hopefully not in a negative way unlike his praise back on Corneria. For once in his life, he just wanted to be a normal person, living a normal life like everyone else was. He didn't know that feeling, and he hoped to experience it on this new planet.

Fox slipped into the small, rounded lecture hall, then breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed it was almost completely empty except for three other humans in the room. One he instantly recognized was the professor; a tall, lanky man with short, slicked back dirty blonde hair, and a very neat and tidy dark blue suit jacket. The one male student he saw was sitting in the very back corner with his head propped up on his hand, looking at a small tablet leaning up against a stack of textbooks with some dark blue headphones plugged into the device sitting over his ears. The other student was female for one, and she was sitting near the front of the room with her legs crossed, gazing at a book that she had open with one hand. The male up in the corner looked smaller than the professor, with a full head of light blonde curly hair and a thin beard of the same color. The female towards the front was very skinny, and had relatively longer light brown hair which was braided into one long ponytail that sat over her shoulder.

Fox threw back his white hood and shook his head faintly, putting his cream colored mohawk back into place. He adjusted his somewhat heavy black backpack on his shoulders as he hesitantly trotted up to the professor at his desk. The professor was skimming through a large stack of papers while occasionally glancing back up at his computer screen for a second or two, but as soon as he saw the vulpine out of the corner of his eye he instantly dropped the papers and leaned back in his chair with his hand over his chest.

"Oh my god I forgot you were in my class," he exclaimed quietly and breathily, trying to regain his bearings. Fox gave a slight grin back as the man lifted himself out of the office chair. "You're, uh… Fox, right?"

"Yeah," Fox replied nervously.

"Pleasure to have you," he said, holding out his hand. Fox internally shrugged and grasped the human's hand as he continued. "I'm Professor Lewis. I'll be your instructor for the next… I dunno, hour or so?" he smirked, taking a quick glance at his watch.

"Cool," Fox impulsively blurted out to avoid an awkward silence.

"First time on Earth, I'd assume?"

Fox nodded and glanced at his pale blue glowing wrist watch. "I've been here for just over a week. So far, I actually really enjoy it here. It's a really nice place."

"Awesome! Glad you're liking it," Professor Lewis said with a smile. "If there's anything you need help with, don't be afraid to ask. I can help you out if you need it."

"Thank you," Fox smiled. The man glanced over the vulpine's shoulder to the empty seats, then shrugged his shoulders with a grin.

"Well, Fox, you have about fifteen minutes to yourself before class starts, so go ahead and find a seat. I don't really care where you sit, just as long as you're in the room."

"Alright, thanks," Fox replied before turning around and trotting up the stairs to the eighth row of seats, which was the very last row of seats in the small lecture hall. He found a seat right in the middle of the long row of light blue padded seats, then tossed his backpack on the ground near his seat and began unpacking a few of his supplies. He was so preoccupied with unloading his bag that he failed to recognize the man in the corner of the room had shifted his gaze from the tablet to the vulpine with a quizzical stare.

Keeping his head propped on his hand, he slowly pulled his headphones down around his neck and secretly slipped out his smartphone from his jeans pocket. He wedged it in between his hand and his head, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible as another voice spewed out of the device into his ear.

"Hey Anders, how you doing?" another male voice resounded from the device.

"He's here," The blonde haired man Anders said almost silently, trying not to alert the foxlike creature as he placed a few small books on his portion of the table.

"Who? And why are you so quiet?" he asked confusedly. Anders hissed quietly to signal him to keep his voice down. He wanted to be careful that he couldn't hear his phone, mainly because he assumed with those large vulpine ears sticking out of the top of his head he could probably hear a pin drop from the library on the other side of the campus.

"The furry dude," Anders whispered through clenched teeth. He probably could have heard the other man's jaw drop through the receiver.

"He's in your class?" he questioned, instantly lowering his voice.

"He's like… twelve seats down from my row." Anders replied, glancing back and forth from the vulpine to his tablet, making sure that the fox didn't make eye contact with him. "He just walked in not three minutes ago."

"Holy shit… Well? What's he look like?"

"Like what everyone else says; a giant golden-brown fuzzy fox," Anders said bluntly, eyeballing the tod in his row. "He's got like a white hooded jacket on… I think that's a red scarf wrapped around his neck… Some kind of wrist watch, but it almost looks like a paper-thin smartphone screen stuck to a leather strap… He's got blue jeans, but his huge tail is sticking out of the back… He seriously looks like the product of someone taking a human body and stapling a fox's head and tail on it…"

"Cooool," the man cooed, reminiscent of a little kid that just opened up a birthday present. "He seriously looks like a fox?"

"Almost exactly," Anders responded, continuously keeping his voice low. "Full coat of orangy-brown fur. Two floppy ears. White muzzle. Tail. Paws. He looks exactly like an anthropomorphic red fox."

Fox yawned and shook his head slightly, forcing Anders to look away before he started laughing. "Acts like one too," he added, clamping his nose with his fingers to suppress his laughter.

"If he acts like one, you might want to keep your distance on 'em," the other man stated frankly. "Might bite you or growl at you or something."

Anders faintly shook his head. "Nah, he looks perfectly harmless… I'm gonna go say hi to him."

"Are you sure? He might not understand you."

"He understood the professor just fine, and he even spoke a bit of English. What's the worst that could happen?"

The caller went silent for a few seconds, then came back with a skeptical tone. "Alright. Tell me how it goes. I'll see you next class."

"Kay, take care bud," Anders said, then pocketed the small device. He hesitantly stood up and walked over towards the fox, but the vulpine was still busy gazing at his textbook. He slipped into the seat next to the fox with a slight grin, and once the noise of his sweatshirt rustling against the seat became audible for the vulpine, his ears twitched and he turned his head to face the human. Anders' blue eyes shot wide open as they made contact with the tod's green eyes, sapping away all of the man's courage and mental capacity to form a basically structured sentence.

"Woah," Anders exclaimed softly with his smile increasing. "You're– woah…"

Fox chuckled slightly as he raised his eyebrow. "Something… wrong?" he asked with a smirk.

"No, I just… wow…" he said, unable to comprehend the frame that was sitting in the seat next to him. Fox put his furred arm on the table as he turned slightly to face the blonde human.

"Don't stress it; I get that a lot," Fox smiled, outstretching his orange paw. "Name's Fox McCloud."

It took all of Anders' willpower not to laugh out loud as he grasped the vulpine's paw. _He's a fox, and his name is Fox. Why is that so funny to me? I don't want to laugh at the poor fella, but– Just get your shit together man, say something to him that doesn't make you sound like a complete dumbass. Ready, go._

"I'm Anders Thompson. It's a pleasure to meet you," Anders finally said, firmly shaking the humanlike paw.

"Pleasure's all mine," Fox replied with a smile, looking up and down the human's frame.

Anders was a relatively small and thin man, standing at five foot nine and one hundred and fifty pounds, but he still looked incredibly strong and athletic. He had a smaller nose in comparison to the other humans, and his pale blue eyes were unlike anything the vulpine had ever seen. His skin color was a lot lighter than the average man, which went well with his light blonde curly hair and beard. He was wearing a light gray hooded sweatshirt with the words "UConn" in black letters embroidered on the front, along with a pair of worn out blue jeans and some black athletic sneakers. His dark blue headphones sat loosely around his neck, along with a silver chain with a small cross charm hanging from the bottom of it.

"So, what brings you to UConn, Fox?" Anders asked after retracting his hand.

Fox shrugged his shoulders and paws. "I just wanted to get away from my old life. Wanted to start fresh."

"Old life?" Anders echoed curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I was a mercenary a few years ago," Fox explained, watching the human's eyes open wide again. "Saved my home planet from a huge war. I was essentially a celebrity back home, but I hated the fame. I honestly hated it. It was the worst time of my life after the war."

Anders raised an eyebrow, prompting the vulpine to continue after a momentary sigh. "I was a hero, but at the same time I couldn't keep in contact with anyone I actually cared about. My parents were killed before that war, and I had to push my closest friends away to keep them from being idolized like I was. I struggled with depression for a while because of it, and I was tired of not having anything else to do, so I basically packed up everything I had and left. I wanted to restart, and coming to Earth was probably the best decision I could ever make to help with that."

Anders smiled as he gently patted the vulpine's shoulder. "Good to know that. Hey, if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to let me know. I'd be more than happy to help you out."

"Wow, thanks," Fox said thoughtfully.

"So, you were a mercenary?" Anders asked.

"For a few years, yeah."

"Where?"

"I had ties with the Cornerian Defense Force, which is the military organization on my home planet. I'm from a planet we call Corneria, which is a planet that is almost identical to yours. It's got technology, natural and artificial resources, wildlife, civilizations; pretty much everything you guys have."

Anders hummed and scratched at his beard. "Does everyone else on Corneria look like you?"

"I wish," Fox chuckled sarcastically. "Corneria is a melting pot of all sorts of sub-species. We all vary in terms of appearance."

Anders gave another quizzical glance to the vulpine, prompting Fox's eyebrows to shoot up as he pulled his pale blue glowing wristlet in front of his face. Anders cocked his head and pointed at it.

"What's that?"

"This is our standard issue Cornerian transmitter," Fox explained, swiping through the holographic screen on his wrist. "It's got everything from radio lines, cell phone receivers, translators, and a whole bunch of other things that I haven't gotten to check out yet. I just got it a week before I left, so I've still been trying to figure out what it does."

"Translators?" Anders repeated questioningly. Fox nodded as he continued swiping through the wristlet.

"That's how I'm talking to you, and how I can understand you," he explained with a smile.

"Oh… I just thought you were really good at speaking English. What's your native language sound like?"

Fox flicked a switch on the transmitter, then quickly cleared his throat. "Tun'se nui de viesé," he recited, making Anders raise his eyebrows.

"Yeah, make sure you got that translator on when you talk to us," he laughed. "I didn't understand a word you said."

"I didn't expect you to, honestly," Fox chuckled back, then suddenly readjusted his shoulder and put the transmitter in the human's face. There was a picture on the screen of the orange vulpine with a tall blue falcon, a small frog, and an older gray rabbit standing next to a large silver and blue fighter jet.

"That was my team," Fox explained, pointing to the people surrounding himself. "Falco, Slippy, and Peppy. They were part of the mercenary group we ran, but ever since the war ended we really haven't seen each other much."

"Were they your friends?"

"More or less," the tod smirked, swiping through more pictures saved to his wristlet. "Oh, here's some of my academy friends," he exclaimed, showing the man a picture with himself, a tan and black speckled feline, a white canine with a red bow in her curly hair, a tall gray pit-bull, and a smaller sand colored fox with incredibly large ears. "Miyu, Fay, Bill, and Fara."

"Aww, that one right there is adorable," Anders grinned, pointing at the speckled lynx that had a sly smirk creased across her short muzzle.

"Yeah, she is," Fox replied, feeling his cheeks start to warm up. "She… well… She was a really good friend of mine."

Anders nodded and faced the rest of the room. As they had been talking, the lecture hall gradually started filling up. Almost all of the seats around the room were taken, but, as predictable as it was, the seats around the vulpine were empty except for the seat he was in. Most of the students in the room were chatting with each other, but a few kept glancing back at Fox with questionable stares. Anders looked at the clock and saw that there were only three more minutes until the class would start, then turned his head back to the large fox.

"You have any classes after this one, Fox?" he asked.

"Just a few. Why'd you ask?"

"I want to introduce you to a few of my friends. I'm pretty sure they'd be stoked to meet you," Anders explained, making the vulpine show off his canine teeth with a smile.

"I'd love to! Thanks so much Anders."

"Anytime," Anders grinned, then handed Fox a slip of paper and stood up out of his seat. "Just meet me at my apartment when your classes are over, okay?"

"Sure thing," Fox replied, watching the curly haired human walk over and slip back into his seat in the corner of the room. He looked at the slip of paper, which had a quickly scribbled down address along with a ten digit number on the bottom of the paper. The ends of his muzzle curled upwards slightly as he copied down the number into his transmitter, then held the device up to his maw. He made a sly glance down the row to the human who had just sat down, then watched as he pulled out his phone and put it up against his face.

"Hello?"

"This thing working?" Fox said in a fake uncertain voice. Anders lifted an eyebrow, then slowly pivoted his head around and saw the vulpine with his wristlet in one paw, and his other paw waving slightly.

"Your transmitter can call our phones?" Anders asked in disbelief, trying his hardest not to blow up laughing.

"Apparently so," Fox replied. "I just wanted to test if this thing worked. I'll talk to ya after class."

"Not a problem Fox. See ya then," Anders said before ending the call and putting the device back into his pants. Fox had just put his arm down as a loud reverberating bell instantly quieted the room and started the vulpine's first human college course.

_Oh boy, here we go…_

* * *

**##########**

* * *

_Tap tap tap tap tap_

"Fox? You home?"

The female canine glanced down at her transmitter for a few seconds, then lightly rapped her claws on the door of the medium-sized suburban house again. After waiting a few seconds, she sighed and tapped on the door once again with more force.

"Fox?"

Again, deafening silence resounded from the other side of the door. The canine sighed as she stepped away from the door and sat on the front steps. She tapped in a few numbers to her transmitter, then held the device up to her white furred muzzle.

"Hey, Miyu, have you seen Fox at all?"

"Uh, not since… over a week ago," another female voice replied. "Why?"

"He's not answering his door. I've been knocking on it for the last minute now and he still hasn't responded."

"Hmmm," Miyu hummed curiously. "Do you know for sure he's home?"

"Yeah, his car is parked in the driveway."

"Huh… Strange… M'kay, I'll come over real quick and see what's up."

"Okay, but hurry. I'm really worried about him."

"Aww, don't worry Fay. I'm sure he's ok. Might just be oversleeping."

Fay brushed some of her hair out of her eyes and sniffed slightly. "I hope so. Just hurry, please."

"Alright, alright, I'm on my way."

Fay put down her arm and sighed loudly, glancing up at the cloudless sky.

"Come on Miyu," she mumbled, tapping her foot on the sidewalk impatiently. A few minutes of messing with the bow in her hair, checking her transmitter, and constantly fiddling with her outfit finally stopped as a red metallic motorbike screeched around the corner and came to an abrupt halt right at the start of the driveway of the house. A medium sized tan and black speckled female feline stepped off the bike and tossed her helmet in the grass near the mailbox, then quickly leapt up the short set of stairs and up to the small, young canine.

"He still hasn't answered?" Miyu questioned. Fay shook her head in negativity with her muzzle pointed towards the ground.

"I'm really starting to get worried," Fay spoke in a cracking voice. "He was acting real strange when we went to go see that movie over a week ago."

"I didn't really see anything wrong with him," Miyu admitted, scratching at her large tufted ears.

"He just seemed… off," Fay stated with a concerned stare at the lynx. "I know he's been struggling with depression and all, but that day at the movie theatre… It just didn't feel like him. He was obviously sad; his ears were constantly folded back, and his tail was always between his legs everywhere he went that day. It looked like he just didn't want to be here anymore. I could really see the sadness in the way he acted."

"I'm sure he's alright," Miyu said, trying her best to console the canine. "I dated Foxie for a while, and believe me; he can act like that because of depression. He probably just needs a quick picker-upper from two of his best friends."

Fay glanced up at the lynx with a toothy smile, making her chuckle slightly as she pulled a small key ring from her pocket.

"Like I said, he's probably oversleeping," Miyu said with a smirk. "Come on; let's give him a nice little wake up call."

Fay giggled and covered her maw as she stood up and came up behind the lynx who had just stuck the key in the door handle. She slowly cracked the recently unlocked door open, making sure not to make an overly loud sound resound through the silent house. Fay practically pushed the lynx out of the way as she rushed into the house, then instantly shivered and nuzzled herself into her scarf.

"It's cold in here," Fay complained, looking around the small living room. "Fox never has it cold in his house. Somethings definitely off with him."

Miyu nodded with a puzzled expression on her short muzzle, looking around the living room that was surprisingly cleaner than usual. Fay quickly spun around and silently slid through the hallway on the far side of the room. She stopped at the first door which was cracked slightly, then turned back to Miyu who was slowly pursuing. She put her paw on the door handle and looked at the lynx expectantly, making Miyu nod slightly. Fay hesitantly pushed the door open, then sighed in relief as she looked in the small bedroom.

"There," she pointed at a large bulge in the dark covers of the bed. Miyu giggled and nudged her shoulder.

"Go get 'em," she said in a childish voice, making the canine rush towards the bed and dove onto the covers. The bulge in the bed gave away to air as Fay jumped onto it, and almost fell off the other end as she was anticipating a person creating the bulge. She started breathing quickly and jerked the covers off of the bed.

"He's not in here!" Fay cried, her paranoia slowly increasing. "Fox?! Fox, you here?!"

Miyu was pushed backwards again as the small canine bolted from the room and slipped back into the living room. She followed the white spaniel into the main room, and walked in to Fay pacing wildly with her paws folded under her chest.

"Where is he?" she asked, her blue eyes beginning to glisten. Miyu shrugged her shoulders and her paws with a confused stare.

"I dunno kid," the lynx replied, kicking at the floor. "Honestly, I don't know."

"He didn't… did… did he?" she asked with a terrified look and tear rolling down her cheek. Miyu quickly shook her head.

"No, Foxie wouldn't do that. I know he's dealing with nasty depression, but he would never do that. That's not him."

Fay buried her eyes in her paws as she sank down on the couch. Miyu sighed as she came around the back of the couch and patted the canine's shoulder.

"He'll turn up Fay. He might just be taking a walk outside. He told me he does that sometimes to take his mind off of everything."

"Why's he been struggling with depression so much?" Fay asked as she picked her head up.

"Honestly, I think he's getting tired of the fame," Miyu stated as she vaulted over the back of the couch and sat next to the canine. "Every time he tries to go anywhere with us, or anyone for that matter, he's always getting swarmed by people. I mean, he can't even get out of his own house without people yelling, 'Oh my god it's Fox McCloud!'"

Fay giggled as Miyu waved her arms around, shaking the large golden loop in her ear. The lynx sighed again and glanced at the floor.

"I could tell he got tired of the celebrity life real quick," she admitted, crossing her legs. "At first he loved it; seeing the little kits running up to him asking for autographs and pictures and stuff like that. The kits he loved, but eventually everyone started swarming him, and that constantly got in the way of his normal life. It got in the way of us, his friends, and pretty much everything he loved doing. He broke up with me a while back because he told me he didn't want me to be idolized as 'Fox's girlfriend'. As much as I would love to have a bit of the spotlight too, I'd probably be depressed if I couldn't have a normal life too. Honestly… I feel sorry for him."

Miyu slowly stood up and padded over to the kitchen that was connected with the living room. A large central countertop was the only barrier between the two places in the house, and the countertop was loaded with stacks of paperwork, a few empty soda bottles, and a small notepad. Miyu raised an eyebrow as she lifted the notepad off the counter. There was a beautifully written message in a perfect fancy looping handwriting with an unmistakable signature on the bottom, making the lynx gasp as she recognized the signature.

"Hey, Fay, look at this," she said, narrowing her eyes at the paper. "Fox wrote this."

Fay instantly shot up off the couch and rushed over to the speckled lynx. "What's it say?"

Miyu cleared her throat and read the words off the slip of paper. "My friends… To those who are reading this: I apologize that I could not say this to your faces, but I just did not feel comfortable bring myself to. I regret to inform you guys that… I'm leaving Corneria?"

"What?" Fay shrieked with her maw wide open. Miyu's eyes widened as she lifted up a paw and continued to read the rest of the note.

"I'm sorry, but I just could not continue the life I was living. I was not comfortable with the life I had. There was too much I had to worry about day in and day out, and I honestly could not take it anymore. By the time any of you read this, I will be long gone; probably in another galaxy or something, and I'm… I'm not sure if I will ever come back. I'm sorry that I could not say goodbye to you guys, but this was what I had to do. I just needed to put everything behind me and start over."

Miyu sniffed as a tear formed in her eye once she started to struggle to read the next lines. "To my close friends who have been with me since day one, I can't say how… how happy I was to get to know you… You guys… were the greatest…"

Miyu choked back a sob as she continued to the best of her abilities. "You guys were the greatest friends I could ever ask for… I may be light years away now, but just know I will always… I will always remember you… You… you guys take care… Fox McCloud."

The lynx dropped the pad of paper onto the floor with a dumfounded and shocked expression. Her ears folded over at the sight of Fay struggling to hold in her tears. Miyu sucked her lips into her muzzle and forced a slight smile as she held her arms out to the canine. Fay needed no second invitation as she buried herself into the lynx's grasp; wrapping both of her arms around her midsection as she laid her muzzle into the other female's shoulder.

"I… I can't believe he left," Fay choked, letting the water flow from her eyes and onto the lynx's clothes.

"Don't worry kid," Miyu said softly, gently rubbing the canine's back. "Wherever he is, I'm sure he's fine."

Fay whimpered and tightened her grasp on the feline. "I miss him already."

Miyu sniffed again and closed her eyes; trying her best to contain her emotions. "I do too Fay… I miss him too."


	2. Car

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for the positive feedback so far! Glad to know I'm doing something right when I start a new story. You guys are awesome!  
**

**Also, in a reply to masterofcircuits' review that I felt I should make public, a good friend of mine actually gave me the inspiration for this and is gracefully beta'ing this story for me. I'll give you guys one guess on where he goes to college. ;)**

**Last thing, there is a poll on my profile that I'd like you guys to participate in if you want. I'd like to hear what you guys think on that, and what you guys think of this chapter too. You guys didn't fail with encouragement last chapter, so I'd like to see if you guys can continue!**

**Take care guys; I'll see you next update! (Hopefully it will be SubZero, but I'm not sure yet)**

* * *

_In a few weeks I will get time  
To realize it's right before my eyes  
And I can take it, if it's what I want to do  
I am leaving, and this is starting  
To feel like it's right before my eyes  
And I can taste it; it's my sweet beginning_

_And I can tell just what you want  
You don't want to be alone  
You don't want to be alone…  
And I can't say it's what you know  
But you've known it the whole time  
Yeah, you've known it the whole time_

_*What You Know – Two Door Cinema Club*_

* * *

Fox followed the steady stream of students out of the fourth lecture hall he had visited in the day, which marked the end of his first day in a college level school. Being that it was the first day, nothing of much relative importance was covered in the halls. In fact, he knew most, if not all of what was taught already, so he basically sat in the lecture hall to refresh his knowledge on certain physics based formulas and equations. It wasn't his favorite, but he was still a natural at solving for variables, even with his limited education.

"Did it seriously get colder?" Fox mumbled under his breath, zipping his white jacket almost up to his neck. Being that the sun was hidden under a thick layer of dark overcast clouds, it was only natural that the surface temperature would cool. He just hoped that it wouldn't get cold too fast. He enjoyed summer on Corneria, but it looked as though he was just an inch short of experiencing a warm season on the human's planet right off the bat. Winter was coming.

Images started popping into the vulpine's head of his time with his dad on the beaches of Corneria. They would always have fun on days like that, or on days where his father would take him to work. If he wouldn't have experienced that, he most likely wouldn't have succeeded his father in keeping up the family business. Although the business had fallen through now, he still had great memories with his father, and his friends who had helped him keep the business going. Those were the only things he enjoyed from his time there.

Fox let a sigh escape his maw as he continued down the sidewalk towards his apartment. There wasn't really anything to do, since he really didn't need to study anything. As previously mentioned, it was practically all review for the tod. He hoped his university years wouldn't all be review, because he actually did want to learn something new. The humans had to know something they didn't if they were able to survive for as long as they have. The Cornerians had their knowledge and instincts, so the humans had to know something too.

Fox readjusted his backpack, then heard something rustle in his back pocket. He reached backward, then pulled out a crumpled sliver of paper with some poorly scribbled words on the one side.

"Oh, right, Anders," he said as his ears perked up, then swiftly spun around and walked in the other direction he had been walking in. As he continued down the sidewalk, he hastily copied down the address that Anders had given him into his transmitter. His map instantly loaded the address, displaying a location on the complete opposite side of the campus from where he was standing currently. Fox groaned in disbelief and let his head fall down.

Not only was he looking at his transmitter and not paying attention, there was another student looking at her phone as she continued down in the opposite direction. Both the vulpine and the female collided with one another, making the female falter slightly and sending Fox staggering backwards.

"Whoops, I'm sorry," Fox instantly apologized, rubbing the back of his neck as his ears lowered.

"Oh, you're alri–" the girl started, but once her eyes glanced up on the orange furred frame she instantly froze up. Her light blue eyes shot wide open and her small jaw unhinged.

"Hi," Fox said with a chuckle, cocking his ears and curling the ends of his muzzle upwards. The female stuttered momentarily and finally shut her gapping mouth.

"Uh, hi," she echoed, letting a slight smile crease her lips. She pushed some of her long, dark brown hair behind her pointed ears and giggled slightly. "Aren't you… uh…"

"Fox," the vulpine finished for her. She snapped her fingers and pointed at the tod.

"Yeah, I knew that. I think you were in my second class today," she explained, adjusting the glasses that were perched on her nose.

"Oh, right, I think I remember you," Fox said as he narrowed his eyes. "Um… Alice?"

"Alexis," she corrected with a giggle. "Alexis Wolf."

"Damn, so close," Fox mumbled with a grin, then outstretched his paw. "Anyway, Alexis, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Alexis replied very politely, shaking the vulpine's padded paw. She was smaller than the rest of the humans, standing no taller that five foot six and was very slim, but she was still beautiful nonetheless. Her skin color was lighter than Anders', which contrasted significantly with her dark brown, slightly curled silky hair that flowed beyond her shoulder blades. She had on a loose fitting sweatshirt, much like Anders had, along with some tight blue jeans and regular athletic sneakers. She pushed her thick framed glasses farther up on her small nose towards her light blue eyes and smiled.

"So, where ya headed Fox?" she asked, bending her leg slightly.

"Buddy of mine asked me to come over to his place," Fox responded, glancing at his transmitter. "Name was Anders."

"Thompson?" Alexis blurted out, raising her eyebrows.

"You know him?" Fox asked.

"He's a good friend of mine, yeah," she stated, grabbing at her wrist. "I was gonna go over to his place too. You wanna follow? I know the way pretty well."

"Sure, thanks," Fox replied with a grin as he raised his backpack back up on his shoulders. Alexis smiled back as she nudged the vulpine's arm and walked in the direction of Anders' apartment. Roughly thirty feet down the sidewalk, Fox broke the silence.

"I'm surprised you warmed up to me so fast," he chuckled sheepishly, again scratching the back of his orange furred neck.

"Why's that?" she asked with a concerned look.

Fox didn't reply with words; all he did was take his paw and wave it up and down the top part of his torso and head with a smirk. Alexis giggled slightly as she continued. "I actually don't think you look all that different. You look pretty cute to be honest."

Fox instantly blushed under his thick coat of fur. "Oh, really?" he asked with a grin. Alexis shook her head with a smile and nudged the vulpine's elbow again.

"Not like that, but," she tried explaining, but started blushing up worse than the tod. She bit her lower lip and glanced away, trying to hide her smile.

"Don't worry, I know what you mean," Fox chuckled, bumping her back with his bag. "I'll admit I am pretty adorable."

Alexis instantly burst into a quiet laugh and let her knees bend slightly. "Aren't you just brimming with assurance," she cooed in a low voice.

Fox chuckled again and stuffed his paws into his jacket pockets. "Well, I was a pretty big deal back home, so I guess that lifestyle hasn't left me just yet."

Alexis instantly turned her head around and stared at the vulpine quizzically. "Big deal? Like, a celebrity? A famous person?"

"Pretty much," he replied, lowering his ears slightly. Alexis instantly donned an awestruck smile.

"Aww, that's so cool!" she exclaimed. "What were you? An athlete?"

"I was a mercenary for a while," Fox replied, then instantly turned his head around to see the priceless expression on the woman's face. Her mouth had opened wide, but it was more of a shock-filled expression than an awe-filled one.

"A m-mercenary?" she echoed in a shaky voice. Fox chuckled again with a slight smile.

"Not a bad one, don't worry," he quickly corrected. "I had direct correlation with our main military system. I wasn't a bounty hunter or a criminal or anything. Here, let me show you something."

Fox swiftly hopped off of the sidewalk and into a large field that contained a bunch of other students scattered everywhere studying or chatting with one another. A few of them directed their attention to the vulpine and began to faintly point fingers as he unzipped his bag and started rummaging around inside of it.

"I see you've peaked a few interests," Alexis stated, glancing out of the view of her glasses' lens to the students who had begun murmuring to each other about the vulpine. Fox grunted faintly in the back of his throat as he continued to search the bag.

"Meh, I don't really mind it," he replied frankly, practically burying his muzzle into the bag. "That's nothing compared to what people would do on my planet. No matter where I was, I would constantly be swarmed by people asking for pictures and autographs. I'd take the mumbling behind my back any day of the week, as long as they aren't a direct threat."

"Man, you must've been a hot commodity," she giggled, adjusting her thick framed glasses again.

"You have no idea," he grinned, then pulled his paw out of the bag with his fingers wrapped around something small. He unwound his claws on a small golden pendant with a red, white, and navy blue ribbon running down from the bottom of it. The expertly crafted medal glinted off the sun and casted a pretty impressive reflection onto the vulpine's fur.

"Oh my god, that's beautiful," Alexis said, eyeballing the golden pendant. "What is it?"

"It's a medal of extremely high honor in my military," Fox explained, running one of his fingers over the pendant. "It's awarded to people for outstanding services and dedication for our planet. Very few of these were awarded to anybody over the course of our history, and my father and I both were given these."

"Wow… What did you even do?" she asked expectantly. Fox put the pendant back into the front pocket of his backpack as he responded.

"I saved our planet essentially," Fox said with a half-smile. "A few of my close friends and I banded together as a mercenary group and took down a huge threat to the well-being of Corneria, my home planet. We were heroes, and being called that is basically being thrown into celebrity life. Honestly, I hated being followed everywhere, and I basically wanted to start over as a normal person without being praised everywhere I went… And here I am now."

Alexis nodded her head slowly. "I get it. You wanted to get away from the fame, so you came here."

"Exactly," Fox replied. Alexis nodded and started walking with the vulpine closely pursuing.

"So, Fox," Alexis started. "Out of all the places you could have gone to, why'd you pick Earth?"

Fox shrugged with a grin. "Well, this was the only other civilization besides mine within a reasonable distance."

"You knew about us before?" Alexis asked with eyes wide.

"Only select few were told about this planet," Fox explained. "Only high ranking military personnel and anyone of relative importance. We actually had plans to send delegates out here to set up communications, but then the war broke out and those plans fell through."

"Well, since that war is over, do you think they would now?"

Fox shrugged his head. "I wouldn't bet against it. We've always have been looking to set up stations on different planetary systems, and this one is the only planet within a million light year radius or whatever that would fit the criteria of an intergalactic base. Not to mention you humans don't differ much between my kind in terms of physical and mental descriptions."

"Other than that," she added as she slipped behind him and playfully swiped at the bushy vulpine tail wagging faintly out of his pants.

"Yeah, I'll admit for me, it's kinda weird not seeing tails on you guys," Fox chuckled, using his free paw to brush his tail down.

"You're telling that to me," Alexis grinned. "I mean, you look so human-like, but at the same time you look almost exactly like one of our animals here on Earth. That's why I was kinda hesitant with you, 'cause I didn't know if you acted like one of those animals too. But, actually, you're really cute and super nice, and you act more like a regular person than just an animal. You're pretty cool Fox."

Fox gave a warm smile and rubbed his tail around her waist. "Aww, you really think so?"

"Absolutely," she replied, swiping at the appendage again. "You remind me a lot of– oh I'm sorry, did that hurt?"

"Just a little," Fox winced, grabbing his bushy tail and combing it down.

"Are you guys' tails sensitive?" she asked concernedly, beginning to blush up slightly.

"Just a little," he repeated with a grin. "That's one thing I always try and protect because it does hurt quite a bit if something hits it. Yeah, they are pretty sensitive, and I forgot you guys didn't know that, so I'll try and be more careful next time."

"Don't worry," she assured. "_I'll_ be more careful. That was my fault, I'm sorry. I was just trying to–"

"No, that… that was all me," Fox butted in sheepishly, lowering his ears and tucking his tail between his legs. "I honestly didn't mean to do that. In my culture, rubbing your tail on someone is a sign of–"

He quickly cut himself off and clamped his muzzle shut as his eyes widened and his cheeks suddenly started blazing bright red under his orange fur. Alexis cocked her head and gave a questioning stare to the vulpine.

"What?" she asked curiously, making Fox even more jumpy and anxious.

"I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, making his ears practically lay flat on his head.

"Fox?"

"I'm so sorry," he instantly piped up as he lowered his emerald eyes to the cement sidewalk. "I wasn't thinking. I just… I…"

"Fox," she called out in an attempt to grab the tod's attention, but he just kept murmuring under his breath to the point where it was barely audible for the female.

"You're culture is so different from ours, but that was still… Alexis, I'm–"

"Fox!" she laughed out loud, making the vulpine raise an eyebrow. Alexis struggled with laughter as she continued. "Fox it's not that big of a deal. I didn't mind it at all."

"But… but that was–"

"Hey, it's alright," she assured, bumping his arm slightly. "If you're implying what you did with your tail was something sexual in your culture, it's fine. I understand that you have a different culture than ours, so it's kinda hard to adjust. I know you didn't mean to do it, 'cause you grew up with that kind of lifestyle, and I respect that."

Fox blushed even more as he once again lowered his head. Alexis herself felt her cheeks warm up as she continued with a slight stutter.

"Actually… I… I kinda liked it."

Fox's head instantly bolted up as his stupefied expression and enlarged emerald eyes made eye contact with the human. Alexis couldn't keep a straight face as she giggled softly at the vulpine's priceless look.

"You… you did?" Fox asked skeptically and disbelievingly. The female nodded her head slowly as her eyes trailed off of the fox's frame and onto his bushy appendage.

"It was really soft and fuzzy… Can I see it again?"

"I, uh… well… sure, if- if that's what– oh," Fox exclaimed softly as he felt the human's soft, cold hand gently brush at his tail. She gingerly ran her fingers through the cream colored tip, giggling quietly as the long hairs tickled her hand. Fox tried his hardest not to make an overly loud sound as the human continued to carefully pick at his tail.

_Oh man, I could tell her what she's actually doing, but I don't want to make it really weird for both of us_, he thought with a smirk. _Ohhh damn I haven't felt this good since the time Miyu–_

"Wow, it's softer than I thought," Alexis announced, running her fingernails all the way through the entire length of the long appendage. "Doesn't it bother you having this? For me, it'd probably get in the way too much."

"Once you get used to it, it's not that bad," Fox explained, trying not to let his grunts of pleasure surface. "We're taught at a young age by our parents to control it."

"Do all of you… Cornerians have something like this?" she asked, straightening out some loose hairs.

"Most Cornerians have tails; some longer or shorter than others. They all vary depending on the sub-species."

"Sub-species?"

"It's a long explanation," Fox chuckled. "I'll tell you about it later."

"It's just… Ahh, this is so cute," she squealed, squeezing the tail gingerly before releasing her hold on it. "Thanks for letting me play with it. I hope it wasn't too weird for you."

"Nonsense," Fox smiled. "I'd be rich if I was paid for every time a girl did that to me back home. On Corneria, what you did would be considered–"

Fox again clamped his muzzle shut and looked away, feeling the heat return to his face. Alexis turned her head back to him again with another quizzical look.

"Are you alright Fox? Am… I making you edgy? I can stop if–"

"No, Alexis, you're alright," Fox butted in, rubbing his temple. "I have to remember you humans have a different culture and lifestyle than what my kind has. I have to be careful in what I say and do here."

"Why? Did… did I do something wrong?" Alexis asked with a frown.

"No, nothing _wrong_ per say, but… what you did, and for that matter, what _I_ did earlier would be considered an act of affection in my culture," he explained, then again kept his ears almost flat in shame.

Alexis instantly gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my god, Fox, I- I'm so sorry, I didn't know," she said quickly, almost with no pauses in between her words as her face transitioned colors.

"_I'm_ sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Fox corrected, finally picking his muzzle back off the ground. "I didn't say anything about it before, and I let you do it because I didn't want to offend you."

"Aww, Fox," she squealed softly and sweetly. "You should've said something to me. I would've understood."

"Well, yeah…" Fox stuttered, struggling to control his flicking tail. "But… Alexis, I…"

Alexis faintly cocked her head at the vulpine. "Fox? You okay?"

Fox closed his eyes and let a bunch of his shyness and tension out of his nose, then opened his muzzle and–

"Woah, watch out!" Alexis suddenly cried, reaching out and grabbing the vulpine's jacket collar and jerking him back, just as a small car wound the corner and came within feet of nailing the tod. The car that just barely missed him screamed by with squealing tires, creating a long streak of burnt rubber into the asphalt as it sped away in the other direction. Fox breathed a sigh of relief as he turned back to the female.

"Thanks," he sighed, showing off his pearly white vulpine teeth with a smile. Alexis gave her own smile back and patted the taller fox's shoulder.

"Anytime," she stated, then grabbed his wrist as she quickly jerked him across the street and came up to the entrance of a medium sized apartment complex.

Fox trailed back a few inches, glancing up and down the female's frame as his tail started wagging again. He instantly shook his head and grabbed the tip of his tail.

_No. Stop it. This was exactly the reason why you left in the first place. You saw what that girl did. She liked it when she messed with you. She was smiling the entire time. She'd just want to use you like everyone else. Just stop thinking about it, and follow her… cute… perfect– No! Cut it out Fox! What the hell is wrong with you?!_

"His place is right over here," Alexis announced, startling the vulpine out of his thoughts. He faintly shook his head again and picked up his pace to catch up with the female.

Alexis walked up to the door and rapped her knuckles on the wooden door gently, making a rhythmic beat out of it. A few seconds later, the door opened with the curly haired man standing in the doorway and a grin plastered on his face.

"Oh, hey Alexis," Anders said cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

Alexis made a gesture with her eyes to her left, and as he stuck his head through the door frame he instantly started showing off a cheerful smile.

"Fox! You made it," he announced, shaking the fox's hand-paw firmly as he trotted up to the doorway. "And I see you found Alexis too. Did you two–"

"We talked for a bit before we got here," she butted in, grabbing her wrist behind her back. Anders nodded and removed himself from the doorway.

"Anyway, come on in guys. It's actually warm in here."

Alexis was the first one inside, with the orange vulpine quickly pursuing. The room that they stepped into was relatively small, but it was only natural for a college campus apartment. There was a long navy blue couch up against the left wall, with a much smaller but same colored loveseat on the wall right next to the door as they entered. The far wall was a medium sized wooden countertop which the small kitchen connected to on the other side, with the opening near the wall where the long couch was. The wall that housed the loveseat also contained a relatively large window, where the light from outside almost completely illuminated the room with ease, but there was still a glowing pale yellow light stemming from a lamp on the table in between where the two couches met in the corner. On the right wall was a decently sized TV, with numerous gadgets and systems shelved below it. There was a narrow hallway where the wall that held the TV and the kitchen counter met, where two bedrooms and a small bathroom resided.

Fox recoiled slightly as a burst of pleasant warm air permeated his fur when the door shut behind his tail. Alexis set her light red backpack up against the wall near the TV, then threw herself onto the loveseat with a relaxed sigh.

"Make yourself at home, Fox," Anders said, patting the vulpine's shoulder. Fox smiled and slipped his black bag off his shoulders and placed it next to the pale red bag of Alexis, then sat down on the long couch near the lamp. Anders picked a small black remote off the coffee table in the middle of the room and flipped the TV on. As the screen was warming up, he placed the remote back down and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Yo Paul_ie_!" he shouted in a typical loud lowered male voice. "Get out here for a sec!"

"What?" a deep faint voice resounded from far in the hallway. "Whada'ya want man?"

A tall human popped out of the hallway with a small black box in his hand and with a raised eyebrow. He was easily six feet tall, but rather slim for his height. He had dark brown, almost black hair that was slicked back and neatly parted off to the right side of his head. Part of his bangs laid down over his forehead, just above his deep blue eyes. His skin color was about the same shade of the vulpine's muzzle, and a few darker spots of slight, almost unnoticeable discoloration ran around his forehead and stubbly dark beard. He had on a navy blue hoodie, with the left sleeve rolled up as a crimson colored cast covered the entire length of his forearm. He had on a pair of gray sweatpants with a navy blue stripe running the entire length of the clothing on either side, with a small husky head imprinted on the right pocket.

He opened his mouth to question the blonde haired man, but instantly froze up and let the box fall to the floor as his eyes rested on the vulpine on the couch. Fox chuckled slightly and waved at the wide-eyed man.

Anders choked back a laugh as he trotted over to the taller human and patted his shoulder. "Paul, this is Fox. Fox, this is my buddy Paul."

"Nice to meet ya," Fox announced cheerfully, lifting his left leg up on the couch underneath his right in a half-crossed sitting position; slouching slightly to let his tail run out onto the couch to his left.

"Hey," Paul responded hesitantly, picking at his cast. He suddenly grabbed Anders' hood and jerked his head closer to himself as he lowered his voice. "Why'd you invite him here? I thought you said you were only gonna say hi to him."

"I did," Anders replied through clenched teeth, glancing out of the corner of his eye to the vulpine who was staring into the TV. "I introduced myself, and found out he's a pretty cool guy. I figured it would be a good idea to invite him over. Maybe get to know him a bit."

Paul still had a hesitant stare as he glanced up and down the humanized fox's frame. Anders leaned back over and whispered, "Come on man. His family was killed, he basically had to desert his friends, and he's just trying to fit in with the regular crowd here. Give him a chance, please."

Paul released his grip and combed his hand through his hair with a doubtful stare. "Alright," he replied, making Anders shake his head with a grin, then watched the blonde man trot over to the vulpine before throwing himself onto the couch next to him.

"So, Paul, what did you do to your arm?" Fox asked, pointing at the red cast.

"Oh, this?" he said, lifting his left arm up. "Sports injury. Hurt myself in practice a few weeks ago."

"Paulie here plays hockey," Anders spoke up, then looked over at the vulpine questioningly. "Does Corneria have hockey too, Fox?"

"Ice hockey?" Fox echoed, making Paul nod his head. "Like, with the puck and skates?"

"Exactly," Paul replied, then let a grin escape his mouth. "You play?"

"Sure do," Fox responded with pride. "I've been told I'm not too bad at it either."

"What position?"

"I prefer center, but any forward position is cool with me."

Paul smiled as he set his unbroken arm on the kitchen counter near a stack of plates. "You maybe wanna try out for the UConn team? We've got an opening I think, and I'd think it'd be interesting to see what'cha got."

"Hey, that'd be pretty cool," Alexis piped up. Fox smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'd have to get some gear, but sure. I'll give it a shot."

Anders chuckled and attempted to pat at the vulpine's tail that was sitting limply at his side, but Fox instantly lashed out and grabbed his wrist before it could connect.

"Careful," Fox warned, flicking his tail to the other side of his body. "A light little touch there would feel like a gunshot to me."

"I found that out earlier," Alexis said, lowering her head. Anders shrugged his head as the tod released his wrist.

"Does having that bug you?" Anders asked, but Alexis quickly responded before Fox could open his muzzle.

"He told me no. He actually let me play with it," she added with a giggle. Paul laughed slightly and put his hand on his forehead.

"You are such a little kid sometimes," he taunted. Alexis stuck her tongue out and pulled her phone out of her pants pocket, then gasped as the screen illuminated.

"Oh, hey, guys, I gotta bolt," she announced, picking herself off the couch.

_No… Don't do it…_

"Already?" Anders whined faintly with a grin. Alexis nodded with her own grin back.

"Yeah, I've got some things I need to do back at my place."

_Wipe that stupid look of your face right now._

"Alright, well, take care Alexis," Anders announced with a wave. "I'll see you tomorrow then, eh?"

Alexis giggled again and donned a mocking northern voice to imitate the blonde man. "Yah, eh! I'll see you aboot Toosday, eh?"

Paul instantly erupted into laughter and doubled over, practically kneeling on the ground as Anders spoke up. "Sure, whatever you say. See ya!"

_Keep your muzzle shut, man. Don't you dare ask her. No, don't–_

"You want me to walk you home Alexis? I gotta get home too," Fox blurted out as she reached for her bag. Alexis cranked her head around and smiled.

"Sure," she answered cheerfully. Anders nudged the vulpine's arm with his elbow and lifted his eyebrows momentarily with a sly smile. Fox chuckled and swiped back at him as he lifted himself off the couch.

"Aww, you too Fox?" Paul asked disappointedly. "I was just startin' to get to know you too."

"I'm not leaving any time soon," Fox assured, then picked up a small notepad and pen from the coffee table and scribbled a few almost illegitimate numbers and words on the page. "Damn I gotta get better at writing English. Anyway, that's where I'm staying. If you guys want to stop by anytime, then go right ahead. I don't have a problem with sudden visitors."

"Sure thing Fox," Anders responded, peeling the page off of the pad and handing it to the larger man. He slipped around the counter and clipped the page to the front of the fridge.

"So, where you staying at Alexis?" Fox asked as he picked up his black bag. Alexis adjusted her bag and her glasses and reached for the door handle.

"Not too far away. Just follow me and you'll be ok."

"Cool," Fox grinned, then turned to face the two other males. "See you guys tomorrow then."

"Alright, see ya!" Anders called out, watching the door shut behind the vulpine's orange and cream tail. A few seconds later, Paul found a seat next to the blonde man.

"He better not get any funny ideas," Paul growled, scratching at his cast again.

"Well, he is a different species and all, so I highly doubt he thinks she's attractive. We might have to put fake ears and a tail on her before he starts getting infatuated."

Both of them shared a laugh as Anders stood back up and locked the front door. The sun had gone down a little, so he reached over the small loveseat and pulled the dark blue curtains over the large window and turned another light on next to the TV.

"I'm still kinda hesitant with this Fox dude," Paul stated, crossing his legs.

"How so? He seems like a really nice guy."

"Yeah, but… I kept seeing his eyes glance over at Alexis every once in a while. I don't know if he's just trying to be friendly, or if he's a horny little bugger that wants to mate with every female he sees."

Anders cracked a slight laugh and held his nose to suppress his laughter. "First off: oh my god why would you think that, and two: just give him a little while. I'm sure all he's doing is trying to get accustomed to the culture here first. Once he gets warmed up to the lifestyle here, and if he's still looking at her funny, then you might want to ask him what's up."

Paul exhaled a bit and slouched on the couch. "Alright, I'm trusting you here man. I'll give Fox a chance."

"Don't worry Paulie," Anders assured, sitting back down on the couch and wrapping his arm around the larger man's shoulder. "Alexis will be alright. Fox won't try and do anything to her. Like I said, they're different species. I would hardly believe he'd have feelings towards her; especially after the first day."

"I hope you're right," he replied, cracking his neck loudly. He then turned his head to make direct eye contact with the man next to him.

"But," Paul quickly added. "If that fox even _thinks_ about trying to fuck _my_ sister, I'm gonna kick his fuzz-covered tail back to wherever the hell he came from."


	3. Computer

**A/N: Commence update train!**

**Basically, I hope to have a few more chapters of each of my stories up every other day this week, but don't take that as a promise because that may or may not happen. I'm setting my own expectations high, even though they may not be reasonable for me. I've got this entire week off, so that should help me produce some good material for you guys to enjoy.**

**Anyway, I'm glad a lot of you guys are taking a liking to this, and I hope to hear from you guys again on this update. I'm a sucker for feedback, and I really don't care if it's three words or a full-on essay. Any feedback helps, and I hope to see some with this new update.**

**Take care guys, and I'll see you soon with another update hopefully in the next couple days.**

* * *

Alexis turned her head to the left, grinning at the vulpine who was looking all over his surroundings, obviously completely awestruck by the breathtaking scenery. She finally let out a giggle and questioned him.

"You like it here Fox?"

Fox nodded and finally rested his eyes on the female next to him. "I do. I was never expecting to land on another place so similar to my home world."

"You said your home was called Corneria, right?"

"Yup."

"What was it like?" she asked expectantly.

"Well… It's really not too different from Earth," he started. "Big cities loaded with millions of people are everywhere. Occasionally you'll find some really nice landscapes and stunning views, but it's mostly highly advanced cities. Most of the things don't differ from there to here."

Fox rubbed his nose on his sleeve as he continued. "Climate is a bit different though. My nose has been bugging me ever since I landed, and I can feel my winter coat coming in already."

"Like, winter fur?" she asked, making subtle glances to the fur on his face and neck.

"Yeah, all Cornerian mammals have a shedding cycle," Fox explained, rubbing the back of his paw. "I assume you humans don't have to deal with it, but it's a pain in the arse for me. So… Damn… Itchy."

Alexis giggled and pushed some of her hair behind her ears. "Is that to keep you guys warm during winter?"

Fox cranked his head around with an eyebrow raised. "How'd you know?"

Alexis laughed and doubled over slightly. "Most of our Earth animals do the same thing. A shedding cycle isn't foreign to us, even if we personally don't have it."

"Ah," he groaned in realization, then stared questioningly at the female's frame. "Then… how do you guys survive during the winter without any fur?"

"I'll give you three examples," she said with a smirk. "Indoor heating, heavy clothes, and a lot of hot drinks."

Fox let a quick burst of air out through his nose and smiled. "That makes sense."

Alexis giggled again and inched a bit closer to the vulpine while continuously walking down the sidewalk. "I personally love winter because it's the only time of the year where I can bundle myself up in really soft and warm clothes and blankets. I just love snuggling up with super soft stuff at the end of the day. It's super relaxing for me."

Fox smirked and lowered his voice. "Soft stuff? Do I count?" he said slyly with puppy-dog-eyes.

_Smooth Fox… Real smooth…_

Alexis busted up and backhanded the vulpine's shoulder. "Careful Fox; I just might have to take you up on that offer."

Fox's eyes shot wide open as he bit his lower lip and looked down, struggling to contain his flicking tail. Alexis nudged him while covering her mouth.

"I'm just kidding," she giggled, feeling the warmth return to her face. The tod exhaled silently with a smirk and batted at her leg with his tail. Alexis smiled at first, then changed her expression to that of confusion.

"Fox, your tail."

Fox blinked, then shook his head slightly. "Oh, sorry… I forgot again."

_'I forgot' my ass. You knew exactly what you were doing._

"Does everyone on Corneria do that as frequently as you? Like, no offense, but are they really _that_ open?" Alexis asked with half of her mouth curled upward and feeling her heart start to quicken pace.

"Actually, now that you said it, we are kinda free with affection gestures and actions," he responded, scratching the back of his neck. "Most of the time it just comes off as a sign of friendship and playfulness, but other times it really does mean 'Hey, I _really_ like you'."

"And everyone does it?"

"For the most part," he said, then gave a sweet smile to the female. "Just trying to be friendly."

_Little bit too friendly you little–_

"Aww, Fox," she squealed softly, pressing her shoulder against his. Fox made a sly glance over to Alexis, then hesitantly threw his arm around her neck. Alexis giggled again as she felt the vulpine's furry arm in her neck.

"Is that another thing you guys do?" she asked, feeling the warmth of the fuzzy appendage on her skin.

"Yeah, It's another friendship sign," he said calmly, resting his paw on her far shoulder. "Our kind get close to one another if they're good friends. Isn't that what you guys do too?"

"Only if we're really close friends, yeah," she said. Fox raised an eyebrow and glanced over to the female, prompting her to explain. "Like, _really_ close."

"As in, a relationship close?" he asked, instantly retracting his arm as he felt his face warm up again.

"That, and what you said about good friends. Anders and I will do that since we've known each other for years. He's a good friend of mine."

"Are you two a couple?" Fox impulsively asked.

"Nah, I like him as a friend, but not like…" she started but cut herself off. Fox cocked his floppy ears as he readjusted his bag, subduing his internal celebrations.

"I know what you mean," Fox said with a grin. "I had a few friends back home that I thought of the same way. I had a pretty serious relationship with one of them, but I… I didn't want her to drown in the fame like I was… I pushed her away to keep her safe, and now I'm kicking myself for it."

Alexis turned her head towards the vulpine and smiled. "Aww, you were looking out for her? That's so sweet!"

Fox nodded and tilted his ears back. "I was looking out for her, but I pretty much dumped her, and then left my home world without saying goodbye. She probably hates me now."

Alexis suddenly inched closer and wrapped her arm around the fox's back. "Oh Fox, it's alright," she said in an attempt to console the vulpine. "You'll see her again, right?"

Fox sucked his lips into his muzzle and looked down. Alexis raised an eyebrow and continued.

"You are gonna go back home after a while, right?" she asked expectantly.

"I… I don't know," he said shakily. "I don't know if I'll go back."

"Why not?"

Fox picked his head up and looked straight in front of himself, letting some air out of his nose. "I… I can't go back to my old life. I won't go back to that hell. I couldn't do anything I actually wanted to back there. I couldn't get an education. I couldn't keep a relationship. I couldn't be a normal person back there."

Fox sighed again and shifted his glance to the female's light blue eyes. "I came here to start over... I wanted a new place to reestablish myself away from fame and fortune, and live a life as a regular person… and I couldn't've picked a better place to do it."

Fox let his teeth show with a smile. "You guys have already made this planet feel like home to me, and… I can't say how thankful I am for you guys."

Alexis smiled warmly as the two stopped at a crosswalk. "Do we really mean that much to you already?"

"Of course," Fox affirmed. "As a matter of fact, you were probably the biggest help. You really helped me get all of that off my chest."

"I was?" she asked with a smile.

"You sure were," Fox smiled back. "Thank you. Seriously."

Alexis grinned again, then pointed at the buildings across the street and began walking towards them. Fox nodded and closely pursued the female as she walked across the small road and walked up to the front door of a small apartment building. She pulled her key ring out of her pocket and faced the vulpine.

"Thanks for walking me home Fox," she said sweetly, letting a large smile crease her lips. "I liked the talk we had."

"Not a problem," he said proudly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait, hold on," she quickly pleaded, grabbing the vulpine's arm before he could spin around.

"What's u– oof," he grunted when Alexis suddenly lunged forward and wrapped both of her arms around his chest and squeezed. Fox failed in holding back a cheesy smile as he hesitantly returned the friendly gesture. Some of her hair stuck up and brushed up against his muzzle, which made his ears perk up as he felt the silky soft hair in his face. She was surprisingly warm to him, considering he had just had a discussion about them not having any fur, so it was a bit weird for him feeling such a smooth and furless body in his arms.

"Seriously, thanks so much," she said, tightening her hold. "I'm so happy I got to meet you."

"I am too," he said, feeling his heart flutter a bit. "I picked the right place to set up home. Like I said, you guys are really making this place feel like home to me. I can't thank you enough."

Alexis removed herself from the tod's furry arms and gave him a warm smile. "That's what I love to hear. If there's anything you want me to help you with… I'll be right here."

"Thanks Alexis," Fox said thoughtfully, giving a quick one arm hug to the female. Alexis surprisingly didn't hesitate as she quickly pressed her lips up against the vulpine's furry cheek for a brief moment, then instantly backed off and trotted up to the door of her apartment. Fox gasped silently and suppressed his tail as he slowly walked backwards away from the building with a massive pleasured smile.

"Give me a call sometime, m'kay?" she asked as she opened the door.

"Of course," he replied on impulse, still dumbfounded by the human's sudden kiss. As soon as the door shut behind her feminine frame he let his tail flick and wag wildly, letting out all of its energy that had been subdued over the duration of the long walk. He let out a quiet giddy chuckle as he turned and walked towards his own apartment, but not before copying down her address into his transmitter.

Fox let out a breathy sigh and stared straight up as he continued down the sidewalk. _Man, she really is cute. She's a human, but she's still… beautiful. Damn, what is my problem? Am I seriously attracted to an alien? No, they're not aliens, they're still people… but they're still a different, well, creature. She's not a Cornerian, but… I… I can't help feeling…_

Fox shook his head again and picked up his pace. He was practically jogging by the time he reached the parking lot of his apartment complex. He approached the sixth door from the entrance of the complex, then unlocked the door and slipped inside.

Fox instantly turned on the light, illuminating the small living room and kitchen. Much like Anders' apartment, there was a small kitchen attached to the main room, only split by a wooden countertop that was devoid of any clutter. There were two dark blue upholstered couches and a coffee table arranged in the same way Anders' furniture was stationed, along with a TV with similar gadgets below it. The only thing that differed from the blonde man's apartment was there was only one bedroom instead of two in the hallway by the kitchen. Another difference was that his living room had a thick sheet of super soft light gray carpet, whereas Anders' home was completely hardwood except for the bedrooms.

Fox slipped his boots off of his orangy-brown feet-paws near the front door, then placed his backpack by the TV and sat on the couch. He grabbed the remote on the table and flipped his thirty-two inch TV on as he laid on his side with a paw under his head.

* * *

**##########**

* * *

"Do you know if it's working?" Fay asked, placing her paws on the desk. Miyu grunted and furiously started typing into the computer.

"I don't see why it wouldn't," she stated, clicking open a small window on the computer screen at her desk. "Fox would be stupid not to take his transmitter with him. It doesn't matter where he is, we can still send messages to him as long as that thing is on."

"Oh my god I hope he responds," she said through her paws that she wrapped over her muzzle.

"I do too kid," she replied, then clicked once again. A small text box popped open on the screen with Fox's name under the recipient. She impulsively started typing into the text box.

Δ) Fox?

Fay started running in place, making her boots tap against the hardwood floor. "Come on Fox, please."

"Ngh, I hope this works," Miyu grumbled under her breath. "Instant messages between transmitters need a stable connection, but a full-on computer should be able to support both ends; no matter where they are."

"How'd you get to know so much about computers, Miyu?" Fay asked.

"Foxie taught me a lot," she responded. "I still don't know why he did, but I guess he just felt like showing me how to work some of this stuff, and I didn't want to tell him no."

Fay opened her muzzle, but was cut off as the sound equivalent of popping a bubble into a microphone resounded from the speakers. Miyu instantly spun around to face the screen.

F) Yeah? Who is this?

"Oh my god he responded!" Fay yipped. Miyu breathed a sigh of relief and rested the back of her head on the chair, but cocked her head as she looked at the screen.

"Yeah, but… Does he seriously not recognize us?" Miyu asked with a hint of doubt.

"He must've cleared his contacts or something," Fay responded. "He probably doesn't recognize the number. Here, move."

Fay moved her wheeled chair out of the way of the keyboard and started typing.

Δ) It's Fay and Miyu.

"That'll probably be a shock for 'em," Miyu chuckled softly. The bubble popping sound sounded again after a few seconds.

F) What? How are you guys messaging me?

"It's called technology Foxie," Miyu chuckled sarcastically, shaking her head. "Now… I've got a question for you, you little vulp."

Δ) What we want to know is why you left us? Do you realize how worried we were?

"Way to guilt-trip him Miyu," Fay glared. "He's already dealing with depression; don't make it worse for him."

"Well? Maybe we can persuade him to come back if we can tell him how _we_ felt," Miyu replied. "He may not show it right now, but he still cares about us. He wouldn't leave like he did if there wasn't something wrong. We're missing a bigger picture, and we need him to tell us why."

F) Guys, I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you face-to-face, but I just couldn't bring myself to.

"Good excuse, McCloud," Miyu grumbled with a slight smirk.

Δ) I don't care about that. Just tell us why you left.

…

F) Did you guys not read the note?

Δ) Duh! Why else would we be trying to talk to you?

"Obviously he left behind some intelligence," Miyu joked.

F) Then I don't need to explain any more than that note did. Everything you two need to know is on that paper.

Δ) But why? Why would you leave so abruptly? You looked like you were fine for the longest time.

…

F) I may have looked alright, but I wasn't. I felt awful.

"Fox…" Fay called out softly as Miyu continued to type.

Δ) We could have helped you Foxie. You didn't have to blow us off because you couldn't cope with your feelings. That only makes things worse.

"Maybe you should let me talk to him," Fay suggested. "I'll try and persuade him."

F) It wasn't just about coping with what I felt, alright? There was too much that you guys don't understand.

Δ) Then explain to us. Please.

…

F) I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take the stress, and I just wanted to get away from it all.

"It's like he's trying to push us away," Miyu said quietly with a hint of hostility.

Δ) Why? You seemed like you were coping just fine. Miyu and I helped you through it.

…

F) I don't know guys… I just don't know. All I know is that this was the best decision I have ever made.

"You're just _trying_ to get rid of us, aren't you?" Miyu snapped bitterly, curling her eyebrows down.

"Hold on, hold on, lemme deal with him," Fay pleaded.

Δ) Do you really think leaving was a good choice? Leaving your home? Your friends? Your life?

…

F) Yes.

Fay instantly felt all the air leave her lungs as he placed a paw over her chest. Miyu growled and pushed the canine away from the keyboard, then started typing furiously as she bared her teeth.

"You wanna be an ass? I'll treat you like one!"

Δ) You listen here; Fay and I were worried sick when you didn't answer the door to your house, and now that we finally got a hold of you you're going to be an ass to us and brush us aside like we don't matter?

…

F) I still care about you guys, but that was it. No one else did.

"Oh great; his depression is starting to show again," Miyu grunted.

F) Don't get me wrong guys, I still love you with all my heart. You guys are my best friends, and you always will be, but it's kinda hard to enjoy your life and company when you don't have anything to do or better yet, can't do anything. Friends are one thing, but opportunity is something completely different. I needed a new opportunity, and no one was willing to give it back home.

Miyu lifted an eyebrow, but right as she tried to respond the canine swiftly took over the controls.

Δ) Then, where are you?

"He won't tell us," Miyu deadpanned.

F) I can't tell you.

"Told ya."

Δ) Are you ever coming back home? We really miss you.

"I can put credits on his answer being 'no'," Miyu said pragmatically as she folded her arms. Fay crossed her fingers as she closed her eyes, then right as she opened them when the computer popped, her heart fell into her stomach.

F) I'm sorry, but no. I can't go back home. Not after I promised myself I was starting over.

Fay put her claws on the keyboard, but hesitated. That hesitation was all the lynx needed to take over the computer.

Δ) How can you just start over? You can't just throw all your problems and old friends away.

…

F) I'm leaving the problems, but you guys I could never replace.

Δ) Then tell us where you are, and we'll go with you. We won't tell anyone else. It'll just be you, me, and Fay. No one else will know where we are. We can get back together. We won't have anyone else to get in our way. Please!

Miyu felt a cold tear running down her fur. She wiped it away as she stared at the screen intently, with the white spaniel inches away from the screen as well.

F) I can't.

Δ) Fox, please! We miss you! I miss you… Fox, I still love you! I want to be with you! Just tell me where you are, and WE can start over! I'm begging you!

Both females had tears forming in their eyes as they anticipated the vulpine's response. The seconds painfully stretched on, and right as the suspense was about to drive the feline up the wall, the computer popped again.

F) Miyu… I'm sorry… but I can't. I don't want you guys to ruin your lives just to make mine better. You guys need to stay there, because your lives aren't tainted with publicity like mine is… was… You guys still have your whole lives ahead of you, while mine wasn't going anywhere. You need to stay there

Miyu gasped as those first few words struck into her heart like a sharp knife. She tightly closed her eyes to eliminate the tears, then snarled quietly as she let her anger surface.

Δ) I can't believe you would do this to us! I thought we were your friends!

…

F) You are. Miyu, I told you, I will never forget you. I'll never forget what you guys did for me. You guys were, and still are great friends, and I have no idea what I would have done if you weren't there with me while I was still home. You and Fay did nothing wrong, but it's what everyone else did that made my life miserable. I'm sorry guys, but I couldn't live a life of constantly hiding from people. I needed to leave. I NEEDED to get away from that life.

Miyu exhaled through her nose as she typed in a much lesser anger level.

Δ) And you're never coming back?

…

F) No. I'm leaving all of that behind me. It's all the past now. I'm making my new home here. I've already made some new friends with the locals, I've got my own place to stay, and I've even got the one thing I've always wanted… Opportunity. I can't leave all of that behind already just to go back to my old life where I had no opportunity anywhere.

"Well… I tried," Miyu stated as she lifted herself out of the chair. "You want to talk to him Fay, go right ahead. I'm done with him."

Miyu stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her tail. Fay whimpered slightly and slowly rolled up to the computer screen, then started typing again.

Δ) Fox, this is Fay. Listen, I understand why you are doing this, and I'm happy that you found something that you always wanted, but… your real friends are here. You found some new friends, yeah, but are they really your friends? Have you known them for years on end? Have you ever sat down with them and told them everything that was troubling you because they actually understood what you were going through and tried to help you get through it?

Fay was in tears as she typed out the last portions. She rubbed her eyes as she started another message before the vulpine could respond.

Δ) Fox, WE are your friends. We sacrificed so much for you because we actually cared for you. We wanted to make you feel better. And now you left us with no warning because you wanted to restart? Fox, that's not you. The real Fox I came to love didn't let his problems get in the way of his dreams. He always found a way to get around them to make sure he was living the life he wanted.

…

F) I did find a way. This was the only way. If there was a way to get my opportunity and eliminate the fame that surrounded me without leaving Corneria I would have taken that option in a heartbeat. The thing is, Fay, that's not how it fell down. I had to sacrifice some things to get the opportunity I always wanted.

Δ) How could you be so selfish? You put yourself before your friends?

Fay was crying softly as numerous tears exited her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.

…

F) I would be dead right now if I was selfish. I would have ended the suffering I was enduring a long time ago, but the only reason I didn't was because I actually had people that cared about me. I put you guys before myself all the time. You guys still care, and now I've got even more people on this planet I'm on right now that care just as much as you guys too. I'm not being selfish…

…

F) I'm trying to start over. I'm sorry, but it's what I had to do. I told you, I'm not forgetting you guys; I'm just putting my past life behind me. I'll talk to you guys again, but it won't be until I can truly say I made the wrong decision. Take care guys.

F) *USER DISCONNECTED*

Fay shook her head slightly, staring at the screen as more tears flowed out of her blue eyes.

"Fox," she whimpered. "You didn't have to do this… There were things we could've done to help…"

Fay used her scarf to wipe away some tears from her muzzle, then started to type into the computer again.

Δ) Whenever you decide to read this Fox, just know that we still care. We care about what happens to you. And if you think you can just leave everything behind, you can't. It may take a while, but you will realize that leaving your friends was not the best option. You were wrong to leave us, and the sooner you figure that out, the better off you will be.

She finally stood up off the chair and walked over to the door the lynx had harshly slammed shut. Right as she clamped her paw on the handle, she looked over at the computer screen. She sniffed again, then swiftly rand back over to the keyboard and typed in another message.

Δ) And when you decide to come back home, we'll be right here waiting for you, but you better come back with an apology to us for breaking our hearts.


	4. Present From God

**A/N: I just realized I've neglected this story for over a month. Whoops. :P **

**I actually had most of this chapter done, but due to my own laziness, lack of will, and the fact that I've been caught up in my other stories kinda let this one rot for a while. I finished this chapter, but ones after that may take a bit of time to finish and upload. Hell, I was so lazy I hardly proofreaded this one (that being said, please let me know if I dun goofed anywhere). Don't get me wrong, I love this story to death, but it's not a high priority of mine at the moment. Soon as this school year is over, however, I'll "hopefully" be able to update this story a bit more.**

**So, guys, thanks a ton for the patience on this one. Like I said, it was kinda my fault this was neglected, but I apologize for it. I'll be more careful about letting my stories rot. (Then again, what happened to Subzero? :P ).**

**Regardless, tell me what you think of this one, and I hope you guys enjoy. Take care fellas!**

* * *

_Tuesday, September 2nd_

* * *

"You ready to go, Alexis?" Anders asked as the small feminine body exited the apartment and trotted down the steps. Her attire didn't change much, other than she had a neon pink knit hat over her head and ears to protect against the continuously plummeting temperatures. She nodded and nudged the man's elbow as they started walking down the sidewalk.

"I was gonna go grab Fox first," Anders announced. "We've got our first class together, and I wanted to see if he wanted to relax for a bit before we left."

"Oh, cool," Alexis exclaimed softly. "Is that when you met him?"

"The first class yesterday, yeah," he replied. "How'd _you_ meet him?"

"Oh, I literally _met_ him," she giggled, pushing her glasses up. "We accidentally bumped into each other after the last class yesterday. He apologized, we introduced ourselves, got to talk to each other a bit and… here we are now."

"He's such a nice dude," Anders blurted out. "A lot nicer than I would have expected from an intergalactic alien race."

"You're telling me," Alexis grinned. "He warmed up to me really fast."

"Really?" Anders asked.

"Yeah, as soon as I met him he was telling me pretty much everything about himself. He didn't say anything mean or do anything rude either. Like you said, he was just super nice to me."

Anders hummed to himself curiously as he scratched his beard. "Do you know why he was so friendly to you?"

Alexis turned her head towards him and raised an eyebrow. "I… I don't know… Why?"

Anders sighed and looked at the sidewalk. "Paulie told me he was a little worried because he kept looking over at you last night."

She scoffed and shook her head. "He's always been too overprotective of me, just 'cause I'm the little sister by one year. Ooh, big deal."

"Yeah, but he does care about you, and he doesn't want to see you get hurt," Anders explained. "I'm not saying that Fox would ever hurt you, but I'm just saying he's keeping an eye out on him."

"Well, I'll admit Fox was acting a little strange on the way home last night. I don't know; I think he was just nervous being that is was his first day meeting people and such."

"Do you think he has feelings toward you?" Anders abruptly asked. Alexis shrugged her head and hid a slight grin.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't have a problem with it if he did."

"You might want to– Wait, what?"

Alexis blushed noticeably and lowered her head. "I actually kinda like him too," she mumbled inaudibly, not making eye contact.

"What was that?"

"I like Fox, okay?" she admitted in a much louder tone, closing her eyes and letting a bunch of air out of her lungs though her nose. Anders' jaw fell to the cement sidewalk in sudden shock and disbelief.

"Like as a friend or…?" he started, but as she shook her head in negativity his pale blue eyes shot wide open. "Oh my god. You _really_ like him?" he asked skeptically.

"Anders, please don't be mad at me," she pleaded, tugging at the man's sleeve.

"No, I'm not mad; I'm just… Really?"

"Is it really that bad?" she asked softly. Anders turned his head and looked at her like she had five sets of eyes.

"Alexis, he's not human," he emphasized with eyebrows raised. "He may be a super nice guy and really friendly, but he's just not human."

"He's not _just_ nice," Alexis started, making the blonde man roll his eyes. "He's funny, he's cute, he's–"

"An animal," Anders butted in. He instantly wished he didn't as he felt the female's hand harshly come into contact with his arm.

"Fox is not an animal!" she growled. "He's a person, just like you and me."

"He's an anthro'd _vulpes_ for god's sake," Anders stated as he clutched at his forehead.

"He's the closest thing to a human that isn't one, and I still like him, alright?" she reiterated. Anders sighed faintly and started speaking in a calmer, but still short-tempered tone.

"How do you know you like him?"

Alexis licked her lips and held her wrist behind her back. "Well, I… I've never felt like this around anyone before… Not even you… Ever since that first talk on the way to your house, I… I kept feeling this tug at my chest, and the only time it went away was when Fox dropped me off last night. I just felt so warm and fuzzy standing next to him, I was just… I dunno, attracted to him somehow."

Anders let a bunch of air leave his lungs as he looked at the ground. "He really makes you feel like that?"

"I guess," she replied dubiously. "Like I said Anders, I just… I've never felt this way before. It'd be easier to know if I did like him if I had felt this way before, but I haven't. This feeling is just as foreign to me as he is."

"Are you sure it's not just a _friendly_ feeling? Like, meeting a new person for the first time and getting to know them?"

"Well," she started, then exhaled again. "I don't know. I guess you could be right."

Anders finally let a smile out as he inched closer to the female. "See? There's a difference between liking someone as a new friend, and what you're implying you feel towards him."

Alexis nodded, but couldn't control or deny the burning feeling in her cheeks, and the warm feeling inside of her. She knew what her true feelings towards the vulpine were, even if she was doubting them and trying to suppress them like they weren't even there. But, maybe Anders was right. Was she just feeling this way because she met someone new? Even if that's what it was, it was so odd that she had only felt this way towards the vulpine and not anyone else. It didn't add up the way it was supposedly thought out to be.

"I like him too Alexis," Anders said to console her. "He'll be a good friend to all of us, I just know it; but, frankly, I can't see him as that kind of person to you. I'm pretty certain he was just trying to get to know you last night; that's all. Just give it a little time, and I guarantee things will change."

"Okay," she squeaked pitifully.

"And I'll make sure not to tell Paul about this," Anders added. Alexis instantly raised an eyebrow.

"How come?"

"After you guys left, he was adamant about you two keeping your distance, if you catch my drift."

Alexis scoffed and pushed her glasses up. "Okay, I may like him a little, but I think that's going a bit too far. I'm pretty sure that's bestiality."

"But you just said he wasn't an animal," Anders butted in. Alexis grunted and lowered her head with a conflicted expression.

"Agh, I just don't know," she grumbled, starting to get emotional. "He's a different species, yeah, but what if he likes me too? Am I gonna ruin our new friendship if I tell him how I feel and he _doesn't_ feel the same way? Oh my god, Anders what do I do?"

"Shh, Alexis, chill," Anders assured, wrapping both of his arms around the smaller feminine frame. "I don't know either. For right now, just be cool around him and try and get to know him more, then if you're still feeling this way towards him, then you might want to sit him down and tell him what's up. I don't know how he's gonna react if that's the case, but for right now, just worry about talking to him. Get to know him a bit before you start jumping to conclusions. Like I said, you might have just been feeling a bit nervous next to someone like him."

"But what if–"

"No, no _what_ _if's_," Anders commanded calmly. "Just worry about now. There; his place is right there. We've got a half hour before we need to get to class, so this is a perfect opportunity to talk to him and get to know him more."

Alexis let a small smile crease her lips as she laid her head up against his arm. "And you won't say anything?" she asked intently.

"Not a word," he affirmed. "I can keep a secret. I'm just trying to look out for you. Hell, Alexis, you're practically my sister, and I keep an eye out on my siblings. I'll make sure you truly know what you're doing."

Alexis nodded and continued across the street to the apartment complex where Fox was supposedly staying. As they walked up to his door, a padded yellow manila envelope was leaning up against his door. Anders lifted it up and started at it questioningly, tilting the package in numerous ways to try to decipher what was in it.

"Huh; U.S. Government," he said, poking at the sender address. "Wonder what's in it."

"Probably some kind of paperwork," she replied, eyeballing the small padded envelope. "I wouldn't expect someone like Fox to get into this school, or country for that matter without tests or background checks or whatever they decide to do with him."

Anders shrugged his head, then lightly knocked his balled hand on the door. "He'll probably want this."

"Nah, he's just gonna throw it away," she taunted sarcastically. Anders smirked and looked at the door, but right as he was going to tap on it again he heard the bolt unlatch.

Fox slowly opened the door, and it was blatantly obvious he had just woken up. His eyes were half shut, his face fur was matted and tangled in several places, and he had the slouch of someone who was _not_ a morning person. He was only wearing a loose white tank top and forest green boxer shorts, revealing almost all of his orange furred frame and some snowy white ventral fur poking out of his tank top which started just under his collarbone. He cocked his ears and gave a smile to the people at the door.

"Oh, hey guys," he said sleepily, rubbing his paw over his right eye. "Sorry, I think I might have overslept a bit."

"Nah, I'll admit we're a bit early today," Anders explained with a smile. "I wanted to know if you wanted to come with us when classes start up today."

Fox ears perked up as he gave a half tooth filled smile. "I'd love to! I'm not ready yet obviously, so, please, come in."

Both humans walked in the room and smiled at the small uncluttered apartment. Fox chuckled as he shut the door and patted down some fur that had stuck up because of the wind.

"Don't get used to this sight; guaranteed it won't look this nice in a few weeks," Fox said sheepishly as he walked into the kitchen. Alexis giggled silently as she heard the vulpine's digits click against the kitchen's hardwood floor.

"Really nice place you got," Anders announced as he sat on the long couch up against the wall.

"Yeah, I'm surprised the States gave me this place to stay," Fox admitted, leaning on the kitchen countertop.

"Oh, speaking of that," Anders exclaimed, holding up the envelope. "This was up against your door when we came up."

"Oh, really? Already?" Fox said enthusiastically as he trotted around the counter and grabbed the envelope from the human's hands. "I got a message a while back saying I was gonna get this, but I just didn't know when it was coming."

"What's in it?" Anders asked.

"You're guess is as good as mine," Fox chuckled, adjusting the envelope in his paws. He used his index claw to get underneath the sealed flap, then expertly ran his claw down the length of the envelope; making a precise incision with his somewhat sharp fingers. He looked inside the manila envelope, then cocked his head with a confused expression as he knelt down and placed the envelope on the coffee table.

"What's in it Fox?" Alexis asked intently.

"No idea," he said as he crossed his legs and sat on the carpeted floor. He pulled out a large stack of papers, then stared at the first page curiously. He pulled up his transmitter screen, then watched as the printed words pixelated into a decipherable language for him. After a few minutes of reading the words off the cover page, he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, great," Fox groaned sarcastically. "Just what I needed."

"What's up?" Anders questioned concernedly.

"More stuff to deal with," he grumbled. "I'm supposed to go to the capital here during winter break to have some discussions or whatever."

"Really? About what?"

"Looks to me something about communications. Apparently your government is extremely eager and willing to set up communications with mine."

"Hey, that's awesome!" Alexis exclaimed, but Fox shook his head faintly in negativity.

"Not really," he stated, lowering his ears. "Soon as Corneria sets up comms, they're gonna make some outposts out here like they've done with all their interplanetary colonies. That was always the plan when we discovered this planet, but that war screwed up our plans to do so."

"Is it that bad to have outposts this far away?" Anders asked.

"Nah, it's not that; it's the fact that everyone on Corneria will know where I am if communications are established," Fox explained. "Plus, Corneria is still trying to recover from the war. It might have been three years already, but we're still trying to rebuild after that nasty war. They don't want to have to deal with comms with you guys yet, no offense."

Anders smirked and leaned forward. "I don't blame ya. They'll understand… hopefully."

"I sure hope you're right," Fox said, flipping to the next page in the packet. "Looks like the rest of this thing is… laws… guidelines… cultural information–that'll be pretty important to me… and… all that fun stuff."

"Basically an 'intro to Earth' packet," Anders chuckled.

Fox smiled and nodded, then reached into the envelope and pulled out a small plastic card. It was about the size of a credit card, and it had numerous pieces of info about the vulpine holding the card itself, along with some strange looking grooves and designs on the underside. He raised an eyebrow at the small card as he held it up to his eyes.

"Huh… ID card?" Fox said curiously, waving the thick plastic card around like a piece of paper as he stared at the male human.

"Oh really?" Anders questioned, snatching the ID from the vulpine's paws. "This doesn't look like a normal ID people here would get," he stated, running his fingers all over every square centimeter of the card.

Fox picked up the stack of papers, then skimmed through them until he found the page he was looking for. "Here. United States multi-purpose refugee identification document."

"Multi-purpose?"

Fox narrowed his eyes at the page in question and started reading off the words. "This ID will be your number one possession here. Not only will this have all your necessary information, it will also function as a voucher with monetary value that will be replenished every month."

"Huh?" Alexis grunted curiously with an eyebrow raised, leaning forward on the couch.

Fox flipped a few pages on the large packet, then ran his claw down the words as he recited them. "Your ID card also functions as a prepaid credit card that can be used for various expenses in this country. This will help you accommodate the expenses of residence, bills, food, transportation, miscellaneous expenses, ex cetera… This preset amount will be replenished automatically at the start of every month, and the set amount will potentially change depending on outside behavior or influences inside and outside the campus."

"That's really neat," Anders admitted.

Fox grinned as he continued to read off the words. "This is an extremely invaluable object, and we are entrusting you with it in hopes that it will influence your attitude and acceptance of our kind. We hope that it will make your stay here more enjoyable and less stressful."

"Aww, they're looking out for you Fox," Alexis cooed sweetly. Fox nodded and set the papers down, then retrieved the card from the blonde man's hands.

"This is just what I needed too," Fox stated, pawing the plastic card. "A way to provide for myself. Wonder how much its value is right now…"

Fox glanced at the stack of papers, then squinted at a value on the bottom of the page. "Uh… is a thousand a lot in you guys' economy?"

"That's… actually not terrible," Anders said with a grin. "For a month's worth, that's pretty solid. That might get you by everyday expenses for a month, but you might be relegated to that kind of stuff for now until you can get that amount raised like it said."

Fox nodded and stood up off the ground; snatching up the papers and the ID and setting them onto the kitchen countertop. He scratched some long hairs along the bottom of his muzzle and grinned at the two humans.

"Mind if I get myself cleaned up before we head out?" he asked. Both Anders and Alexis nodded simultaneously in approval, prompting the vulpine to disappear into the hallway. As soon as Anders heard the bathroom door shut, he shot off the couch and instantly reached for the large stack of papers.

"Let's see what we can find about our little foxy fellow," he said slyly, then skimmed through the information as he grabbed up the pages and walked over to the couch. "Name, Fox McCloud; no shit… Age, twenty-one. He's our age too? Damn… Height, five eight; Weight, one fifty-five."

"Alright, we get it; what else does it say?" Alexis asked impatiently. Anders grunted and set the papers back on the coffee table.

"Nothing other than physical attributes," he replied. Alexis transitioned from the two couches as she scooted up to Anders and lowered her voice with a slight smile.

"Did you see how cute he was?" she squealed. Anders bit his tongue with a smile as he glanced back at the female frame.

"What? He looks human enough, like you said."

"No, I mean his laid-back, care-free attitude," she explained. "I mean, we just met him yesterday, and the very next day he's already inviting us into his place while he's wearing nothing but his underclothes. He's really chill about everything, and that's why he's just so… flippin'… cute! Argh, god he's just so adorable I could just pet him and hug him like a little kid!"

Anders laughed and slouched on the couch. "I'll admit, he is really chill about living on an alien planet like he is. Man, his old life must've been rough if he's already warming up to us so much and so quickly."

Alexis nodded and shifted in her seat. "I agree with what you said earlier with him being a good friend to us. He's just so accepting of us, and not really weirded out or disgusted by us."

"I just wish everyone else would say the same," Anders mumbled, lowering his eyes. "I keep hearing people call him names and judge him without actually talking to him. We need to start telling people that Fox is really approachable and kindhearted to everyone he meets. I'm sure he'll be alright with a few extra people talking to him here. I just don't want him getting all upset seeing everyone trying to avoid him cause he _is_ an alien humanized fox."

"Yeah, I'd hate to see him leave because he's not happy here," Alexis replied. "He told me he was really enjoying it here so far, and I don't want him to pack up and leave because people aren't accepting him. He's too sweet and cute to be criticized."

"Don't worry Alexis," he assured with a smile. "From what I've seen so far, he's really enjoying his time here. It'll take a lot more than judgement to force him to leave. Even though he's only known us for a day, he cares about us too much already to leave."

Alexis nodded, then about five or six minutes later she heard the bathroom door open as the orange vulpine exited the room. He was wearing a dark forest green short sleeve shirt and blue jeans like a normal human would wear, but Alexis was giggling at what wasn't clothed. His auburn furred arms appeared larger and puffier than they actually were because the fur was so fluffed out as a result of his shower. He combed back his white mohawk as he slipped onto the couch near the window.

"Oh my god, Fox, you look _so_ adorable," Alexis squealed, making the vulpine on the couch smile and blush under his thick and fluffed up fur.

"Oh, thanks," he replied cheerfully, flicking his tail faintly as he curled his legs up on the couch. "You look pretty cute yourself."

Alexis' cheeks instantly blazed bright red, and she had to bury her face in her hands to avoid it being noticeable.

"You're quite the charmer, eh Foxie?" Anders asked with a smirk. Fox grinned back and scratched behind his neck.

"Heh… well… I try."

Anders pulled out his phone, then once the screen lit up he stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Yo, we gotta hit the road if we want to get a good seat."

"Oh, sure," Fox replied, standing up and pulling his white nylon jacket off the back of the couch. After he slipped that around his fluffed up arms, he pulled out a red scarf from the back pocket of his jeans and wound that around his neck.

"What's the scarf for, Fox?" Anders asked curiously. Fox picked up one of the ends with one finger and responded.

"This was what my father always wore during his work. I wear them as a tribute to him and to remember him," he explained, then exhaled though his nose and looked at the floor. "It's been over three years, and I still can't believe he's gone. I can't help but think about him all the time. He was always there for me and helped me through difficult times. He was always the one to show me the right choice."

"But, he didn't show you this choice, right?" Alexis asked softly. "You made the decision to come out here, and you said it was the best decision you ever made last night."

"But he was still right there next to me," Fox replied. "I can always hear his voice when I'm making a difficult decision. Even though he's gone, he still is right there with me."

Alexis smiled warmly as she stood up and wrapped her arms around the vulpine. Fox didn't recoil like he did last night, and instead welcomed the embrace with open arms. Both his face and heart felt like they were on fire, and he had to fight to keep his animal instincts restrained. He could have easily forced his muzzle into her face, but held back to not make a scene out of it so suddenly.

"Alright you two lovebirds," Anders taunted sarcastically. "Let's get moving before Alexis starts gushing."

_I sure as hell wouldn't be opposed to it_, Fox thought with a smirk as he released the female. Alexis instantly stormed over and playfully pushed the man onto the couch. Anders erupted into laughter as she hid her face from the embarrassment he just exposed her to.

Fox lifted his bag off the floor by the TV and opened the door, prompting the humans to grab their belongings before stepping out of the warm home and into the not-as-chilly-as-yesterday temperatures.

"I'm just glad it's gonna warm up soon," Anders said as he adjusted his bag on his shoulders. "They're saying it's gonna go back up into the sixties later in the week."

"They also said rain for Friday," Fox announced as he shut the door. "I saw that last night before I hit the sack."

"Have you seen Earth rain storms before?" the blonde man asked curiously.

"Just a little shower last week, that's all," the vulpine replied. "Not a thunderstorm like they're saying for Friday."

"They're not too bad, but some can get a bit nasty. Just be glad we don't live in the Midwest or Great Plains, because they get absolutely brutal storms during this time of year."

Fox nodded and chased after the two humans who had inadvertently increased their distance on the vulpine. A few feet down the sidewalk on the way to the campus, Alexis silently exhaled and mustered enough courage to turn her head to the vulpine.

"Hey Fox, are you… uh… are you doing anything Friday night?"

_You… wait, what?_

"Uh, I don't think so," he replied, clawing at the fur on his neck. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was uh… gonna have a few friends over for dinner and a movie at my place. Are you interested at all?"

"Absolutely," Fox replied enthusiastically. "I'd love to."

Alexis smiled cheerfully and subdued her internal celebrations, giving a thumb up to the vulpine. "How about you Anders?" she asked as she turned her head to face the man. "You wanna join?"

"Can't," Anders responded frankly. "Got basketball practice that day. I don't want to miss it."

"You humans have basketball too?" Fox asked with curiosity. Anders nodded with a slight grin, prompting the vulpine to continue. "You think I could try out?"

"Oh, uh, sure," he replied. "But, I thought you were gonna try out for the hockey team with Paul. Aren't you gonna do that?"

"I would, but honestly, hockey isn't my strong suit," Fox admitted. "I'm not bad, but I think I'm better at shooting baskets than pucks."

Anders chuckled and looked at his phone screen. "I dunno when tryouts are, but I'll ask coach tonight and see when they are. I'd love to see you play, that's for sure."

"Awesome, thanks," Fox said gratefully. Alexis nudged the vulpine's shoulder after a momentary pause.

"Wasting no time getting into Earth life, eh Fox?"

Fox chuckled and nudged her back playfully. "I don't want to wait longer than I have to. Besides, the sooner I get to know all of you guys, the faster I'll start enjoying life here even more. I'm already loving it here, and I'll bet that as soon as I get to know more of you guys and start getting involved in what you guys do, I'll never want to leave."

Anders smiled, then poked the tod's shoulder as he pointed to the lecture hall. Fox nodded, then once they had walked up to the door he turned to Alexis with a grin plastered on his muzzle.

"Thank you Alexis," Fox said cheerfully, giving a half-hug to the human. "I'm really looking forward to that movie on Friday too."

"Oh, believe me, I'm way more excited than you are right now," Alexis replied happily. Fox chuckled, then followed the blonde man into the lecture hall. As the vulpine's tail disappeared behind the door, she exhaled through her nose and continued walking down the sidewalk towards her class with warm cheeks and a fluttering heart.

_Anders, your advice isn't working_, Alexis thought doubtfully. _I'm still getting all fuzzy inside when I'm around him. I hope this goes away before Friday, because there's no telling what'll happen–_

"Alexis!" a high pitched feminine voice squeaked out from behind her. She cranked her head around, then suddenly felt two arms wrap around her body.

"Oh my god, Christie, hi!" Alexis squealed back, returning the friendly gesture. Christie was about two inches taller than Alexis, but was just as thin and weightless as she was. She had dirty blonde, almost brown hair pulled back into one long ponytail stretching beyond her neckline. She had glimmering light brown eyes, along with a smile that could cure cancer and a laugh that could end world hunger.

"What are you doing here?" Alexis asked disbelievingly after releasing her thin frame.

"I transferred here," she replied enthusiastically. "Wasn't happy at my old uni, so I decided why not and transferred to the college that my best friend is at."

"Aww, it's just so nice to see you again," Alexis said sweetly, wrapping her arm around the taller female.

"Same here. I missed you so much," Christie admitted. "I think I'm taking mostly the same classes you are, so that's plenty of time to catch up on the years we've not seen each other."

"Cool. If that's the case, follow me."

"So, how you liking it here Lexy?" Christie asked as she trotted up alongside the dark haired woman. Alexis pushed her glasses up and smiled.

"I love it. I've met some amazing new people, and I'm just having such a nice time here."

"New people?" she echoed curiously.

"Yeah… Actually, I just met a really nice guy the other day."

"Oh," she cooed with a sly inflection. "New boyfriend eh?"

"No, Christie, he's not my boyfriend, but I…" she stopped herself to avoid getting more embarrassed and looked down at the sidewalk. Christie nudged her and grinned slyly.

"Come on, spill it. Who's your new little crush?"

"Stop it," she giggled. "I don't have a crush on him, alright? I just like him, that's all."

"Who is he?"

Alexis sighed and glanced at the sky absentmindedly. "His name is Fox. Same age as me, little bit taller, and–"

"Woah, wait, his name is Fox?" Christie scoffed faintly with skepticism. "I've never heard of anyone who's name is Fox. Last name?"

"I think it was McCloud or something."

"Can't say I know any McClouds either," Christie admitted.

"Well, I honestly wouldn't expect you to 'cause he's… well… He's not human."

"WHAT?" she shrieked loudly. Alexis instantly hushed her and brought her own voice to a low whisper.

"Wait, Christie, hold on a second, let me explain," she pleaded calmly. "Fox is Cornerian, which is an alien species from a distant planetary system or whatever. He's not weird looking or gross; he's... actually pretty cute."

"An alien? Cute?" she repeated doubtfully. "What's he look like?"

"He's–"

"Wait, lemme guess," she butted in with a smirk. "Since his name is Fox, he probably looks like a fox, right?"

Alexis cracked a silent laugh and covered her mouth. "Chris, I know you were just guessing, but you couldn't be more true."

"You're joking, right?" she asked with narrowed eyes. Alexis shook her head and replied.

"You know those anthropomorphic animals you'd see in mythology? Like, human body, but animal-like features?"

"Is that what this Fox guy looks like?"

"Exactly. Anders described him as a human body with a fox's head and tail stapled onto their respective ends. He seriously looks like a fox, but so human-like it's uncanny."

"Aww, that's adorable!" Christie squealed. "Can I meet him? I really want to see him in person."

"I'm having him come over to my place on Friday for supper and a movie. You're welcome to join us if you're interested."

"Are you kidding? I'd love to!" she exclaimed with a cheesy smile. "I'll get there early to get to know him a little first. I really want to meet him."

"He's such a nice fox… person," Alexis giggled again. "He's really kindhearted, super laid-back and chill, and just so freakin' adorable! He gave me a hug last night, and he was so warm and soft like a regular fox."

"Aww," Christie cooed again.

"He's really nice too; a lot nicer than I would have thought from an alien race. He was super nice and happy with me and Anders when we were talking last night and this morning."

"Wait, he talks?"

"He's got a translator on his watch," Alexis explained. "Some device he brought from home. He has his own native language, but his translator lets him talk and understand us."

"So Fox is basically a human in behavior, but appearance… dare I say he's a furry?"

Alexis cringed and clutched at her forehead. "He does… kinda… but… oh my god you're right. Fox is a real furry. A cute, sweet, happy, nice, orange furred furry alien humanized fox."

"That's a mouthful," Christie giggled.

"But he is really adorable," Alexis repeated. "Seriously, you should totally see him on Friday. He's so cute. I could honestly snuggle with him if I really wanted too."

"Aww," Christie squeaked in a high frequency again. "Now I _really_ need to see him. You don't usually act this way around guys. You said you seriously like him? As in, _like him_ like him?"

"Kinda," Alexis replied. "Anders told me to wait a bit before I fess up; maybe try and get to know him more before I jump to conclusions, but that doesn't help me now. I get really jumpy and fuzzy when he's next to me, and I don't want that to affect me talking with him… I just… ahh I don't know."

"You said he's coming to your house on Friday for that movie?"

"Yeah."

"There's your time," she said calmly. "You've got a perfect opportunity to get to know him more, and if you still feel that way around him… Well, you're at your house. You can persuade him to come into your bedroom and–"

"Oh god Christie please," Alexis whined, cupping her head in her hands. "I like him, but… I don't even know if he… you know… can…"

Christie cracked a slight internal laugh and bumped her again. "Can't hurt to find out, no?"

"Christ_ieee_," she moaned, backhanding her arm. "If you want to find out so bad, why don't you try and get his hormones running? I'd bet he wouldn't hesitate to mate with a beautiful specimen such as yourself."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop," she laughed, pushing at her faintly. "Just know if he's really that cute, you may have some competition for him."

"As if," Alexis grunted sarcastically. "You've still got a boyfriend; I don't."

"You poor soul you," Christie taunted condescendingly.

"Hey, least I know Fox kinda likes me too," she fired back, making Christie's mouth open.

"Wait, _he_ likes you too?"

"Well, I dunno," she admitted. "He was acting jumpy and nervous around me, and he kept brushing me with his tail, which he even said had a friendly connotation."

"Oh, looks like Fox _really_ wants it," she cooed. Alexis hid a grin and felt her cheeks warm up.

"Oh just shut up and follow me. I'll tell you more about him in class."


	5. Watered Down

**A/N: Ok, I've got some explaining to do.**

**For obvious reasons that you guys will find out when you read this chapter, I struggled with this. I quickly came to realize that a story like this is not my strong suit. But, then again, I love this story to death. I love working on it, but it really is frustrating since I'm not the best author in this kind of genre. **

**To apologize for the lack of an update for the longest time, I made this chapter exceptionally long. I originally planned to have it be split into two parts, but I kept this update away from you guys for too long. I also planned an update before this chapter, but I was just having so many problems with it that I just scrapped it. However, there's a little snip of that update still in here, because if it was not in here the latter half of this chapter would not make sense.**

**So, again, I'm really sorry for neglecting this story, but it was not because I wanted to. Like I said, this genre of a story is not my strong suit, so after reading this chapter I'd really like to hear from you guys on if I have the right idea going forward. I need all the feedback I can get with this story if you fellas would like it to continue with up-to-snuff chapters. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this regardless. Take care fellas!**

* * *

_Friday, September 5th_

Between the sound of heavy rain pelting the windows of her small apartment and the sound of scraping metal pots over her stovetop, Alexis almost didn't hear the knock at her door. She removed the pot from the open flame, haphazardly threw her mitts on the kitchen countertop, and then quickly rushed around the counter and through the living room before finally up to the front door. She sighed in relief as a soggy human male face in the doorway greeted her warmly.

"Well don't just stand there Marcus, come in here and help me," she commanded, visibly stressed and frazzled.

The man let a quick burst of air through his nose and smiled. "Nice to see you too," he said jokingly in a very faint and almost unnoticeable Swedish accent, throwing back his black hood.

Marcus was about Anders' height, maybe a little taller, but stature-wise he didn't differ much. After throwing back his hood, he combed his hand through his short, but thick blonde hair; spiking it straight up after it had been matted down by the clothing. He had deep blue eyes much like Paul, but his eyes were a little larger than everyone else's. He also had a large scar spanning the entire length of his left cheek because of an accident early in his life that he still refuses to explain. He rolled up his sleeves on his black hoodie and followed the flustered female into the kitchen.

"Prepping for a family reunion?" he asked sarcastically, provoking a friendly glare from her.

"I'm just making enough food to satisfy everyone," Alexis replied unfocusedly, scraping yet another pot to keep the ingredients from building up on the sides. "I'm feeding myself and three others; yourself included."

"You, me, Christie, and…?"

Alexis smirked and glanced over at him out of the corner of her glasses as she stirred one of her pans over the open flame. "Fox is coming over too."

"_THE_ Fox?" Marcus asked disbelievingly with wide eyes. "The furry Fox? The one that always messes with my allergies?"

"Yes, but don't call him that to his face," she pleaded with a faint whine. "He's super sweet and nice, but please don't make fun of him."

"I know, I know, I've heard of him," Marcus replied, nodding his head forward. "I wanted to talk to him, but… honestly… I'm kinda hesitant with him."

"That's what I thought at first, but he's actually really nice. You'll like him, I just know it."

"Kay, I'm taking your word on him," he responded, then slid over to the stovetop. "Need help at all?"

"Yes, actually," she said, kicking at a low drawer near the oven. "Can you get the–"

The doorbell suddenly cut her off from her sentence. She giggled and gestured to the living room with her head. "Door."

Marcus chuckled and trotted over to the front door, then after he opened it he saw a thin feminine frame that was fighting with a small umbrella. He gave a warm smile and gestured the girl in.

"Wasup Christie?" he asked, grabbing the closed umbrella from her hands and setting it up against the wall near the TV. Christie grunted and removed her large overcoat, hanging it up on the rack near the front door.

"It just had to rain today off all times," she grumbled. Marcus nodded with a grin and gingerly hugged the dirty blonde haired woman.

"Yeah, perfect timing."

Christie removed her gray tennis shoes near the front door and sat down on the couch near the window. Alexis' apartment was almost exactly like Anders' with the dual bedrooms, bathroom, living room, and kitchen all arranged in the same fashion, but like Fox's in the way the living room was carpeted. Her carpet was a brownish burgundy color, which was a little lighter than her soft brown upholstered couches. Christie adjusted the pillow behind her back and looked over at Alexis, who was concerned with making her meal.

"Hey Lexy, having fun?" she taunted playfully.

"I'm just drowning in fun," she replied in her own sarcastic voice. "Can one of you guys make sure the TV works with the DVD player?"

"I got it," Marcus replied almost instantly, crouching down and staring at the thirty-six inch TV and the small disk player shelved underneath it. He started messing with a few of the wires as Alexis threw her oven mitts onto the countertop.

"Almost done with food," she sighed breathily, putting all of her weight onto the counter as she rested her arms and upper body on the furniture. Christie smiled and sniffed, letting the aroma completely fill her nasal cavities.

"Smells awesome as usual. I can't believe you're not an actual chef."

"I just follow the box," she admitted with a giggle, removing a small white apron from around her waist. Being that she was working in a warm environment, she had on some short black athletic shorts, along with a skimpy pale green tank top. She pulled her hair back behind her ears and threw herself on the larger couch.

"When'd you say Fox was coming over?" Marcus asked, muffled by the TV he was crouched behind. Alexis shrugged and laid her head on the armrest near the kitchen entrance.

"I told him when dinner was, so hopefully not too far away from then. Oh, shoot I need to get ready!"

"You're fine Lexy," Christie assured. "It's not a date, it's just a little dinner and a movie with some friends. You're fine with what you've got now."

"But… am I too… revealing?" she asked hesitantly, glancing at her shorts that barely covered more than a third of her upper leg. Marcus laughed involuntarily, making Alexis stick her tongue out at him.

"You're perfect," she remarked truthfully. "You'd be irresistible for anyone, including our little foxy fellow."

"You're not much of a helpful person, aren't ya?" Alexis grinned. "I'm not _trying_ to get him in bed. I'm just trying to make him feel at home here, ya feel?"

"I bet he wants to _feel_ something," Christie cooed, making Marcus laugh mirthfully as he fell backwards onto his back.

"Chris, seriously, just wait until you meet him," Alexis whined. "He may be sweet and cute, but I don't think he feels that way towards anyone here. We're aliens to him, and what person would want to bed an alien right after meeting them?"

"You," Christie instantly responded, casting Marcus into yet another uncontrollable laughing fit. Alexis blushed and stood up, but right as she was going to jump on the other female the faint sound of a door knocking stopped her in her tracks. She pushed her glasses back up on her face and put a hand on the door handle, then right as she turned the knob she felt her heart hop up into her neck.

Fox was standing there underneath the cover of the overhang of the apartment building with a warm and cheerful half-grin as the light from inside the house reflected off his auburn cheeks and vulpine muzzle. He was wearing a black, white, and lime green flannel shirt with the top three buttons undone, showing off a jet black undershirt. The buttons keeping the sleeves tightened were also undone and pulled back halfway down his forearms, as well as two other buttons toward the bottom of his shirt being loosened as well. The left part of his lime green flannel shirt was tucked into a pair of loose-fitting dark denim jeans that allowed his bushy tail to hang limply out of the tail hole. Alexis' heart fluttered at the sight of the vulpine's almost flawless appearance, stretching from his perfectly groomed fur to his choice of attire which complimented each other in ways that cannot be described by ordinary words.

"Oh… uh… hi, Fox," she managed to say, completely transfixed on the tod's fine looking frame. Fox's tail faintly wagged behind himself as he gazed at the female's own body.

"Hi," Fox replied, running his eyes up and down her surprisingly revealing furless body. She didn't have the fur he had, but that didn't discourage the vulpine's increasing internal temperatures. The lack of clothing she had only aided in showing off her well-defined and well-toned body, and he had to admit she was very beautiful regardless. "I, uh… hope I'm not late."

"You're just in time," she replied, giving the vulpine a warm grin. "Come on in; make yourself at home."

"Thanks," Fox said sweetly, stepping off of the soggy porch and into the warm glow of Alexis' apartment. The first look around the room made his emerald eyes rest upon the other female that was sitting on the couch. As soon as she made eye contact with the fox, her eyes bulged out and her jaw unhinged with the edges of her mouth angled upwards.

"Oh my god, _you're_ Fox?!" she squealed, shooting up and grasping the vulpine's paw with both hands. "Alexis' description was spot on!"

"Oh, so you've heard of me?" he asked with a smirk. Christie nodded almost instantly, still not losing her amazed and awestruck facial expression.

"Pretty much everyone knows about you," she admitted, then lifted her eyebrows. "Oh, sorry, where are my manners? I'm Christie Shay, Alexis' best friend."

"Nice to meet you," Fox replied extremely politely. Christie giggled at his friendliness and continued to eyeball the vulpine's stature, studying every single inch of each and every feature the tod had, then suddenly jerked her head around towards the TV.

"Marcus!" she yipped, causing the male to bolt his head upwards and inadvertently bang it against the bottom of the TV. He groaned out in agonized pain as he rubbed the back of his head, then gave a nasty glare to the female. His glare was instantly replaced with an intrigued stare as his eyes came into contact with the vulpine.

"Woah," he said quietly, then let out a breathy chuckle as he inched closer to the tod. "Fox?"

"That's me," Fox said proudly, grasping the man's hand.

"Name's Marcus Flynn," the blonde, short haired man announced, smiling as he felt the rather oddly shaped fox's paw. "It's so nice to finally get to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine," Fox responded confidently. Marcus nodded and slipped back behind the TV, just as Alexis had relocked the door and nudged the vulpine's arm.

"Go ahead Fox, take your shoes off and make yourself at home. Supper's almost ready."

Fox obliged and hesitantly kicked his boots off of his feet-paws and slid them by the front door, then made his way over to the long couch and sat near the lamp in the corner of the room. Alexis quickly followed him and sat right next to him, making sure not to accidently hurt him by sitting on his tail. As soon as he realized she had taken the unoccupied seat next to him, he flicked his tail over and brushed the tip of it against her bare arm, causing the brown haired female to giggle.

"Fox, that tickles," she laughed, swiftly leaning back the other way and slamming her shoulder into his own. Fox instantly recognized the playful gesture and attempted to retaliate, but Alexis was too fast as she popped off the couch before Fox could bump her back. He collided with nothing but soft brown upholstery as the two females erupted into laughter. Fox played it cool by laughing along and cocking his floppy ears.

"You were right about him being friendly," Christie admitted in between laughs. "He's a big teddy bear… literally!"

Alexis smiled and bumped the vulpine's knee with her own, then slipped into the kitchen as the sound of the oven echoed throughout the house.

"Supper's ready guys; come get something."

The meal went rather uneventful and surprisingly well to the female's surprise. Everyone enjoyed Alexis' homemade dish, including Fox himself, and as a matter of fact he came back for seconds he loved it so much.

The entire duration of the late evening meal consisted of Fox giving numerous explanations, stories, and memories about himself, his home world, and anything of relative importance he was willing to restate for everyone. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Fox's talks, especially the small brown haired woman sitting next to him while they ate. Every story Fox told made her feel more relaxed next to him, but she still couldn't deny the warm, fuzzy feeling brewing her heart that kept building and building with every seconds she spent sitting next to him. As much as she tried to argue with herself, she couldn't deny that still had feelings for him, and at times she had to restrain herself from making a scene of jumping on him and loving him. However, as much as she wanted to, she could not muster enough courage to do so, especially with two of her closest friends in the room with her.

One thing that Alexis remembered about dinner was Fox's explanation of where he got his shirt. Turns out that Anders himself offered to take the vulpine on a rather quick tour of campus, and offered to buy him lunch and a few clothes. What was more intriguing to the female was the almost unnoticeable hesitance that Fox told his story with. However, the vulpine had his own reasons for being extremely careful with his explanations…

* * *

**##########**

* * *

_The day prior – Thursday, September 4th_

"Wow…" Fox whispered breathily as he had to crank his head upwards to see the very top of the massive pavilion on campus. It was a breathtaking structure with a very intricate rounded roof, something most Cornerian buildings did not have or have even put any effort in doing so. Anders chuckled as he stopped to look at the words 'North Entrance' labeled just under the dome, then pointed at the structure.

"This is where we have our games," Anders explained. "Our practice facility isn't too far away. Just down the street and around the corner here."

"Practice facility? Dang, you humans must take your sports seriously here," Fox admitted, adjusting his backpack on his shoulders.

"Always," Anders responded. "Especially school sports. College teams are sometimes more popular than the professional league, so a lot of money goes into this kind of stuff. UConn's teams have always been good, especially the hockey and basketball teams, so if you want a spot on this roster you better impress the coach."

"And how's the coach?"

"He'll like you, I'm sure," Anders assured with a grin. "Trust me."

Fox grinned back and patted the man's shoulder. "You're one guy I can trust."

Anders chuckled and nudged him playfully. Fox did the same back, then after a moment of silence he lowered his ears and turned back to face him again with a rather conflicted expression.

"I… I can trust you, right?"

"Of course," Anders answered right back, puzzled on the tod's sudden swing of emotions. "Why, is there something wrong?"

"I just need to know if I can really trust you," Fox explained in a hushed voice, slightly tucking his tail in between his legs.

"Of course you can, but… why are you asking?"

Fox sighed as the two stopped at the corner right outside the large dome-shaped pavilion, then curled his lips into his muzzle. "Well, Alexis is your best friend, right?"

"We've been friends longer than either of us can remember," he chuckled.

Fox nodded slowly, giving askance glances to the surrounding buildings and scenery. "Okay, uh… How… how do you get her on your good side?"

"I'm sorry?" Anders confusedly and hesitantly asked.

Fox growled at himself silently and shook his head. "Er… What does she like in someone like you? She's really close to you, and I… I just want to know how I can do the same."

Anders' jaw nearly dropped, but luckily he caught it in time before Fox could notice. "Why do you need to know?" he questioned in the most assuring voice he could come up with. "You… you don't…?"

Fox caught on to the blonde man's implications, so he mustered enough courage to nod his head and reply. "I… I like Alexis. Quite a bit as a matter of fact. I was asking you about her because… I… I want to get her to like me too."

Anders stared at him with wide eyes as the vulpine scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. Anders stammered a bit before he could come up with a logical response, because he did want to keep his promise to Alexis, but still try and help Fox out. One thing would definitely have to be sacrificed, and it wasn't going to be the latter.

"How long?" he started off slow, doing his best to keep the vulpine calm.

"Ever since I had my first talk with her a while back," Fox responded nervously. "I know it sounds corny, but it really was love at first sight."

"Wow," Anders whispered, then found himself smiling at the fox. "I'm glad you're _really_ warming up to us so quickly. In all honesty, I'd… I'd like to help you out."

Fox nearly broke his jaw because of opening it so quickly and so violently. "You'd do that for me?"

The human nodded back. "You told me on the first day why you came here, and I could see how bad you wanted to fit in with us and be a normal person. If Alexis means that much to you… why would I try and separate you two?"

Fox stopped in his tracks, then as soon as Anders turned around to face him Fox impulsively lunged forwards and hugged him tightly. "You're the best Anders. Seriously."

Anders chuckled at the tod's friendliness and gently returned the gesture, rubbing his back for good measure. He patted it a few times in quick succession as he backed away from him, then nearly laughed out loud at the vulpine's priceless expression.

"I-I-I don't know how to make it up to you," Fox stuttered, fighting to control his flicking tail and twitching ears.

"Please, it's nothing," Anders replied. "Alexis is like a sister to me, so I would do anything to make her happy. Here, uh… I-I don't think I should tell you this, but… come here."

Fox obliged and tilted his ears towards the human so that he could hear him better. Anders fought with himself for what felt like hours before he finally let his shoulders go limp.

"Ever since she met you, she's been acting different," he explained in a low voice, almost drowned out by the sound of their shoes pounding on the cement sidewalk and the sounds of cars driving by. "Not in a bad way, but… just different."

"How so?" Fox asked in roughly the same tone of voice.

"Well, I…" Anders started, then let a breath of air out of his mouth and grinned almost unnoticeably. "Fox, I think she might be into you too."

Fox's expression was, yet again, priceless. When Anders didn't hear a response from the vulpine after a few seconds, he turned to face him, and almost exploded in laughter at the face his muzzle was contorted into. His eyes were wider than saucers, and the bottom of his jaw was practically dragging against the sidewalk.

"I know Alexis," Anders continued after his laughter subsided. "She doesn't act this way unless something is really bothering her, and the only thing I can think of that would make the most sense in this current situation would be that."

"Oh my gods," Fox muttered under his breath, making the blonde man smile again. "A-are you sure?"

"You can trust me Fox," Anders assured, gently patting his shoulder. "I wouldn't lie to you."

Fox let out a breathy chuckle. "Oh… dude! Dude you just made my day! Oh my gods I can't believe it!"

"Easy there Foxie," Anders laughed. "You still gotta make the move if you're really sure about this."

"Wait," Fox nearly stopped dead in his tracks. "_I_ have to make the move?"

"Alexis is really shy, especially around someone she likes," Anders admitted. "She wouldn't be the one to make the first move. That's up to you to do."

"Damn," Fox growled, lowering his ears. "Ah, that's not helpful at all. Dammit, I'm screwed."

"What?"

"I… Gah, I'm the same way," Fox grunted while slicking his mohawk back. "I've never done anything like that before. My ex-girlfriend made the first move years back, not me. I've never started anything either."

"It's alright," Anders grinned, rubbing the vulpine's back in reassurance. "It wouldn't take much with her. Hell, we became best friends back when we were six, when we were in lunch and I shared some of my cookie with her. It doesn't take a lot to get on her good side."

Fox chuckled and let his ears lie flat again. "That's good to know."

"My best advice would be to just be yourself around her. Let her experience who you are and let her grow on you. She'll warm up to you in no time."

"You really think so?"

"Absolutely," Anders smiled. "You can trust me."

"Good to know I've got someone to depend on," Fox grinned back, letting his tail flick wildly. "Thank you so much Anders."

"Anytime," he gave a nudge to the vulpine, then pointed at the front doors of another building right next to the pavilion he first saw. "In here."

* * *

**##########**

* * *

_Present day – Friday, September 5th_

"Can you get the movie set up, Marcus?" Alexis asked as she retrieved everyone's empty plates and silverware and dumped them into the sink to clean on a later day. Marcus nodded and trotted over to the TV and messed with a few more settings and wires. Alexis disappeared into her room for a few seconds, then came back with an armful of blankets and pillows and tossed them near the couch by the coffee table. Alexis then proceeded to make a nest out of a few of them on the floor in the corner of the two couches right in front of Fox. Fox picked out a pillow and stuffed it under his right arm as he curled both of his legs up on the couch.

"What's the movie?" Fox asked, staring at the home screen of the somewhat large TV. Marcus grunted again, brushed a little dust off of his sweatshirt and slipped into the barstool near the kitchen entrance.

"One of my favorites," he replied. "Awesome sci-fi movie they made back in the early seventies."

"It's almost fifty years old now, but it's still amazing," Alexis added, punching in play on the remote. "You'll like it Fox, I'm sure."

As the beginning credits were playing, after Fox pulled his transmitter screen in front of his face to have the words translated for him, Alexis slipped into the kitchen and came back with a large bowl of popcorn just in time for the first scene.

About ten minutes in – after Alexis had gotten tired of seeing the vulpine's paw swoop in and snatch parts of her snack – the two had managed to find a steady rhythm that benefitted both of them. Every minute or two, Alexis would grab a piece, throw it up in the air behind her shoulder and right into the awaiting muzzle of the vulpine behind her. It was a constant process, almost like a machine; Alexis tossing a piece of popcorn right into Fox's gaping mouth like it was second nature to the both of them. Alexis would occasionally let a giggle of success surface after she would hear the tod bite down after a perfect throw.

_God he's adorable_, Alexis thought after he munched on another piece. _I know I've said it before, but he's just so dang cute. Super funny. Super nice. He's that guy that everyone dreams about, even if he isn't really human. I don't care that he isn't though. Anders told me to wait, but… I can't wait anymore. I need to tell him. I need to ask him out or something. Something._

Fox rocked slightly as a huge explosion tore through a large warship, making the vulpine's muzzle curl upwards. Alexis giggled and attempted to grab more popcorn, but the bowl she had was completely empty. As she set the bowl on the table, she could hear a faint, almost silent whimper from the fox behind her. Her heart almost melted right then and there at that sound, then reached behind her back and patted his leg in reassurance.

Forty-five minutes later, still less than halfway through the movie, the rain outside started picking up. The sound of water pelting the window muffled the movie somewhat, and also brought back memories for Fox of sitting alone at home, falling asleep to the sound of rain. Those memories and habits returned, and even though he was extremely interested in the movie, the rain started making him drift off. It was only a matter of time, and soon enough he was sound asleep on the couch.

**##########**

"Ahh, that movie never gets old," Marcus stated, stretching his arms out as the end credits rolled on screen.

"Tell me about it," Christie replied, then open mouth gasped as she looked at the clock on the wall over the TV. "Oh my god it's late! I gotta get back home before my roommate throws a fit. See ya guys!"

"Okay, bye Christie. Thanks for coming over," Alexis said as the taller female reached for her coat and umbrella.

"Thanks for inviting me. See you guys later!"

As the door shut behind her, Marcus cracked his neck and leaned up against the hallway. "Mind if I crash here tonight? I don't feel like walking five minutes in that awful weather just to get home."

"Sure thing," Alexis replied, popping out of her comfortable nest. "You can stay in the guest room for tonight."

Marcus smiled and nodded in approval, then backed into the hallway and slipped into the room across from Alexis' bedroom. She turned the TV off and looked back at Fox, and almost squealed as she saw him fast asleep on the couch. He was curled up, only taking up one large cushion on the sofa as his knees were tucked into his chest and his arms were crossed under his legs. He was breathing heavily, and his ears would twitch every time he would let out a long breath of air.

The more she looked at the sleeping vulpine's frame, the more her feelings for him grew. She fought with herself to keep her from embracing his furry body, but was losing her fight as she inched closer to his face. She was practically within inches of pressing her lips against his muzzle while he slept, but couldn't bring herself to disturb his absolutely adorable slumber. Instead, she shook her head to snap away from her fantasies, then turned the light off in the corner of the room. Before going into her room, she pulled out a thin, soft, red blanket and gingerly set it over the vulpine's curled up frame. She let out another silent giggle as she backed away and slipped away to her bedroom.

The rain increasingly picked up strength, and before long there were faint rumbles in the distance. Alexis stopped in the hallway and shuddered, but right as she was about to open her door to her room nature let out a deafening–

**_CRACK_**

Fox jolted awake as a loud clap of thunder tore through his ears and deafened him momentarily. He stretched his arms out and felt the upholstery with his paws, but was startled when his eyes regained enough vision to see the small thin human pressing against the hallway walls with both of her hands and breathing heavily. Perplexed, Fox flipped the light on to see her more clearly, and as soon as he did Alexis almost screamed.

"Alexis?" Fox called out with cocked ears. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Fox, you're awake," she panted, slouching her shoulders as she tried to calm herself down from nature's surprise.

"Did I seriously fall asleep?" he asked, unfolding his legs and letting his feet claws dig into the carpeting slightly. "I guess the rain was too soothing for me."

Alexis giggled to try and relax herself. "You just looked too cute when you were sleeping, so I didn't want to wake you up."

Fox nearly blushed at her unknowing slip of words, then let the left side of his muzzle curl upwards. "Oh, well, thanks… but it's kinda late, and I really should be getting back home."

Right as he finished, another ear-splitting atmospheric explosion tore through the house, making Alexis duck down and whimper in fear. Fox stood up and peeled back the curtains, and upon seeing the dark clouds deluging the grass and nearby streets, barely visible because of the light from a nearby lamp post, he chuckled to himself and pulled them closed again.

"Or maybe not," he remarked, scratching the back of his fuzzy neck. "Uh, you wouldn't mind if I camped out here for tonight, just to get away from the storm, right?"

"Oh, of course, Fox," Alexis affirmed. "You can stay here all you want. It won't bother me."

"Thank you," Fox smiled, but his smile faded once he realized the discomfort the female was in. He cocked his head as he inched away from the couch and towards the hallway she was in. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered unconvincingly, glancing down at the floor. Fox noticed her askance actions and took another step closer.

"Is something bothering y–"

**_CRACK_**

Fox ducked slightly as another loud clap of thunder made Alexis squeak and surprisingly lunge forwards, burying herself in Fox's green and black flannel shirt. Fox nearly recoiled at Alexis' sudden and involuntary explosion of affection, but then realized she was trembling wildly in fear and tried his best to calm her down. He couldn't keep his tail from flicking as she tightened her hold on his frame as the rain outside picked up intensity.

"I hate thunderstorms," she squeaked pitifully, then as she realized she had forced herself on the tod she blushed noticeably and backed up slightly. "I-I'm sorry Fox, I-I-I don't know what got into me."

"You're afraid of thunderstorms?" he asked concernedly.

"I have really bad memories of them," Alexis responded sadly, clutching at her wrist. "When I was a kid, a nasty storm ripped through my neighborhood. I still remember hiding in my basement with my parents, crying my eyes out because I was so afraid."

Running on pure instincts, the vulpine took a step towards her and gently pawed at her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay," he assured, persuading her to step out of the hallway and into the dim glow of the living room. "It's just a small little storm. You'll be alright."

"I will now since you're here," Alexis grinned sheepishly, glancing at the floor once again. Fox blushed under his thick fur and looked away, trying to suppress his wild tail flicking. Alexis picked her head up to look up at the taller vulpine and gave him a small smile.

"Seriously, thank you," Alexis said as quiet as humanly possible, practically crushing her wrist behind her back. "You've really gone out of your way to put a smile on my face. I can't explain how grateful I am that I got the opportunity to know you."

"I've barely done anything," Fox remarked with a grin, folding his ears back.

"It still means a lot to me," she replied, fidgeting with her shirt. She had an adorable smile creasing her lips as she glanced back down at the floor, and Fox could not, and _would not_ take that sitting still.

_Dammit Anders, I hope you're right._

He hesitated slightly, and fought with himself internally for what felt was like hours until he mustered enough courage to outstretch his paw. Alexis didn't even see it coming until she felt the sudden gentle contact of his hand-like paw on the side of her face, just below her ear. She glanced up at the fox, and upon seeing his eyes completely locked up with hers and his muzzle slightly gapped, her cheeks started blazing.

Fox stared at the most beautiful creature he had ever laid his eyes on for what felt like ages, studying every inch of her gorgeous frame and intoxicating looks. She wasn't covered in fur as he was, but he still couldn't fight the burning passionate desires in his heart. She might have been different than him, but she wasn't different enough for him not to feel attracted to her. He had the perfect time, opportunity, and circumstances to express it, and he was always taught to take the opportunity if it is presented. Although that teaching applied to warfare and battle strategies, it couldn't differ much from getting on the good side of a pretty girl such as the one he had placed his paw on, right?

As for Alexis, she was extremely confused. He had a somewhat conflicted expression after he had gently laid his right paw over her left cheek, and it was starting to worry her. What was he doing? The way he had gently grabbed at her along with his body language and behavior just screamed that he was fighting with himself, but for what reason? Was this another one of his attempts at trying to blend in with the culture?

Alexis' speculating was abruptly cut off as she felt her head involuntarily move closer to the tip of his cream colored muzzle. Under normal circumstances, the warning lights would have gone off right then and there, and Alexis would have tried to break out and question what his intentions were, but she just couldn't say no to that adorable foxy face. The gap between her lips and his shrank to a very small distance, and she eventually realized she was too late to back out of it now – implying she wanted to in the first place. She didn't care if she was about to kiss a muzzle; Fox was a person to her, and a damn cute one at that. She had to restrain herself from crying out in excitement as the distance between their faces was almost too small to measure, and right as the suspense was about to drive her up the wall, it finally happened.

Fox gingerly pulled her head towards himself, consequently making her small and awaiting pale lips press against his muzzle. It was a very hesitant and gentle gesture, but it made Alexis almost explode in elation. She had finally expressed her feelings towards him, and the best part was that Fox was the one to make the first move. Knowing that Fox had started the affection was the greatest thing the female could ever desire in her life.

For the vulpine, the sensation was divine. He couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed a kiss so much before, and the kicker was that it wasn't a deep or passionate kiss either. It was just a simple ice breaking kiss, but for all he knew he shattered that ice into countless miniscule pieces. Her lips were extremely soft; much softer than what he remembered from his previous relations with Cornerian women which came off as a surprise to him, and the warmth that stemmed from her face pressed up against his was inexplicably soothing and comforting for him. In this very moment, he was the happiest person in the universe, and the person in a close second to him had her lips locked with his. He knew she had expressed her feelings unknowingly to him earlier, and in the situation those two were in, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up to let her know he felt the same way.

Alexis felt the vulpine's teeth with her lips briefly, and the feeling of his muzzle fur and whiskers brushing against her face was an interesting feeling to say the least, but all she cared about was that the man she had come to know and love was expressing his own love for her. She only knew him for a week, and even at that she still hasn't gotten to know everything about him, but she couldn't control or deny the deep internal feelings that had developed towards him. Every second she thought about the fox expressing his true feelings like he was doing currently kept making her heart beat faster and burn hotter, and she was practically on the verge of cardiac arrest before Fox let the female pull back and breathe.

Fox slowly opened his eyes and let his muzzle open slightly, the ends of it curling upwards unnoticeably as he recognized the expression on the female's face; that being an expression of pure joy. Alexis herself slowly let her jaw unhinge now that she wasn't required to use it as she stared back into the fox's green eyes. Both of them stood in completely and extremely awkward silence and stillness after Fox had retracted his arm, and the standoff seemingly lasted forever until Fox let his tail flick wildly, ending the prolonged period of silence.

"Fox," Alexis whispered, and luckily Fox had his large vulpine ears otherwise he wouldn't have heard her. She stammered in silence for a few more moments until she let a small grin surface. "Fox, you…"

The vulpine himself stammered as well to come up with a response as he shuffled his feet slightly. "Alexis, I'm… I'm sorry."

"You… you kissed me," she said in a state of disbelief, her grin growing wider with every syllable.

"I'm so sorry," the vulpine continued, lowering his ears. "I don't know what got into me. I didn't… I wasn't thinking. I've never done anything like–"

"Fox," Alexis called out softly again, inching closer and rubbing her hands over the vulpine's soft shirt. "You don't need to apologize. I… I loved it."

Fox's eyes widened in shock. "Y-you did?"

Alexis giggled lightheartedly. "I loved every second of it… I loved every second of you… You're just so cute and loving, I just…"

After a conflicted exhale, she raised her head and started into his eyes with a look that could make grown men squeal. Her vocal chords wouldn't allow her to say another word, so instead she lunged forward yet again and hugged the vulpine wholeheartedly. Fox couldn't keep his smile withheld as he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her closer, resting his muzzle on the top of her head.

**_CRACK_**

Another loud clap practically shook the apartment and made the female cringe and fold over again, completely ruining the moment those two had just shared. Fox himself staggered backwards as the loud explosion of deafening noise caught him off guard. He caught his breath and opened his muzzle to question the female about her condition, but was cut off as the door off to the left opened with Marcus staring out confusedly.

"You alright?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. "Oh, Fox, you're still here?"

"He's gonna stay here tonight too," Alexis replied for him.

"Cool," he yawned, then gave his neck one last crack before grinning sleepily at the duo. "Night guys."

"Night," Alexis replied as Marcus resealed his room. She glanced back over at Fox, who still hadn't recovered from his moment he just had with the female in front of him, then glanced over his shoulder as if she was expecting someone to be there watching them.

"Can you keep this a secret?" she suddenly asked in an almost inaudible whisper. "I-I don't want anyone to know that we… you know…"

"I won't say anything," Fox answered back quietly. "You can trust me."

"Thank you," she sighed, giving one more grin to the fox. "Thank you so much Fox… I-I can't explain how happy you just made me."

"I could say the same thing," he said as if the words just rolled off of his tongue mindlessly. Alexis felt herself shiver at the vulpine's smooth voice, then gave him a wink as she backed towards her room.

"Goodnight, Fox," she said happily, almost like she was awarded for saying that sentence. Fox smiled and cocked his ears once more.

"Goodnight," he just managed to say before she slipped into her room. As soon as he realized he was alone, he let all of his happiness and excitement out through his tail as it violently and erratically flicked around the room, threatening to knock over a few things in the process.

After calming himself down, he slowly slipped back onto the couch and pulled up his transmitter. Just before powering the device off for the night, he typed out a quick message to Anders; one that he would most likely understand right away as soon as he received it.

_Thank you._

Fox lazily curled up on the couch after turning the lamp and his transmitter off, then let the sound of the pounding rain on the windows calm himself down. Even though the rain outside was very soothing and lethargic to him, he still couldn't fall asleep so easily because of the incident that had just transpired. He had his first kiss with a human girl he genuinely liked and cared about, and the fact that she shared his same desires and feelings towards him made his love for her grow even deeper. He closed his eyes and let another smile surface as he slowly let the sounds of the loud dripping rain against the windows lull him into a much needed resting state.


	6. Nor'easter

A/N: Sheppard Studios is now three strong! Why? Because it gives Shep a valid excuse to to work on his projects for a long time while we cover him in terms of content. I don't see how this benefits us, but we're okay with it. At least I am...

Anyway, oh my gosh, hi guys! I'm the new girl here! Name's Callie, and yes, the newest member of the steadily growing Sheppard Studios. Now we can be officially called a "studio" now, right? Well, maybe not. But you get the gist; we added another member to churn out even more stuff! Yay!

I'll be taking over **Far From Home** for the foreseeable future until either Shep takes it from me or until it's complete... whenever that will be. I like the senseless non-tense stuff like this (sorry Shep, Veria is way too tense for my liking), so expect this to be updated more than Shep tried to do with it. 

I'm very open to suggestions as well, so please, don't hesitate to send me a message. I want to meet you guys myself, and I love talking to people too. Regardless, I hope you guys like this chapter, and I hope to here from you soon. See ya!

_*note - not the best author. You can and will find mistakes. I'm only human. ;)_

* * *

_Saturday, September 6th_

* * *

That same rain that had lulled him to sleep the night prior gained enough intensity to eventually wake the vulpine up from his restful slumber. The winds whipped heavy droplets of rain into the window overlooking Fox's couch almost savagely, echoing the loud splatters throughout the entire apartment. Yawning, Fox stretched his arms out above his head, pawing at the headrest behind him as his eyes slowly focused to the natural light of the room.

Even with the rain relentlessly pelting the apartment walls and windows, there was enough light seeping through the gray, gloomy clouds and through the window to illuminate just about every area of the living room and kitchen the window could oversee. Everything inside was tinted a dull gray due to the intensity of the clouds, and the only other light illuminating the room was coming from the screen of the TV.

Fox's eyes focused enough to see that the program on the TV was a weather broadcast, highlighting the area in and around their state. From what he could decipher, there was a nasty storm system gradually rising up from the bottom of the screen, covering the entire viewing area in the multicolored precipitation indicators. He couldn't read the screen, but just looking at the indicators made him feel a slight anxiety brewing in his mind.

Right when he was going to reach out of his blanket and grab the transmitter sitting on the table, he soon realized that the device was not where he left it. Puzzled, his eyes wandered around his viewing area to see if it had somehow moved overnight, but he still couldn't locate it. He didn't panic, as he knew it was in the apartment somewhere, but just not knowing exactly where it wound up was concerning to him.

His concern immediately vanished when he glanced up and saw Alexis sitting on the couch by his feet, poking around it with an intrigued stare. She looked absolutely mesmerized by the device as her thin, feminine fingers gracefully moved around the holographic interface. Her eyes and fingers danced around with each other in a seemingly mindless demonstration of coordination, something that gave Fox slight chills. His eyes became locked on her, just as mesmerized at watching her fiddle with the device as she was at playing with it.

When Fox's interest in her movements died down enough, he soon felt his face start to warm up at the apparel she was wearing. Loose sweatpants, thick socks, and a very cute looking athletic top that let her toned, soft stomach bask in the gray light seeping through the window greeted Fox's eyes warmly as if it were his long lost friend. Luckily, his tail was suppressed by the blanket covering his body, otherwise it would have started flying in all directions at her sight.

She must not have seen him wake up, so to make a more graceful entrance of his consciousness he stretched again, letting a grunt-filled sigh out of his nose as he extended both his arms and legs. Alexis as a result was inadvertently pushed down the couch by Fox's hind paws, while the vulpine in question smirked all the while. She was temporarily caught off-guard, but once she regained her bearings and saw the smirking fox she giggled and set the transmitter on the table.

"Good morning Fox," she practically sang, patting the tod's hind leg. "Sleep well?"

Fox didn't understand a word of what was said to him, probably because she must've deactivated his translator. He cocked his head and ears at her to signal to her that he wasn't comprehending.

"I said did you sleep well?" she repeated.

Fox pointed at his transmitter and then his ear, and only then did she get the message. She grabbed the wristwatch-like device and handed it over to Fox, who immediately poked a few options and activated the translator.

"Sorry, what was that?" Fox smirked.

"For the third time now," she giggled, curling her legs up on the couch. "Did you sleep well?"

The vulpine nodded and pushed his body inward, pulling himself up into a sitting position with the base of his tail pressed against the armrest. "I did," he said with a grin. "Much better than he quarters back on my mothership. Those beds were hard as rocks. Not to mention the food always tasted awful."

Alexis gently nodded her head and scooted in closer to him. "Speaking of food, you want me to make you some breakfast?"

Fox's eyebrows rose. "Oh, do we have time for that?"

"Classes for today got cancelled because of this storm," Alexis explained. "We've got all day to do whatever we want."

The vulpine's expression lightened up considerably. "If that's the case, then sure. Thanks."

"No problem Foxie," she smiled, nudging his hind paw underneath the blanket as she stood up. Fox stayed underneath the warm sanctuary of his improvised bed and watched Alexis' swaying hips work away from the couch and around the bar-like countertop that separated the kitchen and living room. She immediately grabbed a few cooking ingredients from the cupboards lining the space above the countertops while Fox tightened the blanket around his frame.

"So, what's this storm all about?" Fox asked, glancing at the rain-masked windows.

"Oh, it's what we call a nor'easter," Alexis explained. "In simple terms, it's when a storm system forms due to hurricane-like activity in the tropics down south and pushes a similar system upwards into the eastern coastal cities. Usually they happen later in the year, but I guess this one didn't want to wait."

"Are these storms bad?" Fox questioned curiously.

"Depends on the system," she replied, grabbing a bowl from underneath the counter. "This one doesn't look as bad as other systems that have hit here, but at the same time they're unpredictable. Right now it's supposed to rain really bad for the next couple days, and as far as I know classes during this storm are cancelled because they don't want people outside in this mess."

The vulpine shifted on the couch. "So, where's Marcus?"

"He's a heavy sleeper," she giggled. "Nothing'll wake him up if he doesn't want it to."

Fox grunted in approval and went to remove the blanket from his legs and torso, but stopped mid-fling when he saw his pants draped across the top of the couch. He forgot he had taken them off before falling asleep last night. Even though he had let them into his own apartment with nothing but his undergarments days prior, something about doing the same in someone else's house seemed indecent.

He blushed slightly and tightened the blanket even further, managing to pick himself off the couch while keeping his legs covered by the blanket. His hind claws dug into the soft carpet as soon as he fully stood up, and after sighing at the soft feeling on his feet he heard the female in the kitchen giggle.

"Fox?" she fought through laughter. "You're, uh… forgetting something."

She pointed at the pair of jeans draped over the couch. Blushing more than before, he lowered his ears and glanced at his pants shamefully. As a result, the human on the other side of the counter almost melted at his adorableness.

"Oh, Fox, it's okay," she smiled. "I won't judge. In fact, I think you look really cute."

That seemed to be all the incentive the vulpine needed. He removed the blanket from around his shoulders and tossed it back on the couch. All the while, Alexis stared at him with a sort of longing that she didn't even know she had. He just looked so damn cute showing off every inch of his fuzzy, soft body. Not to mention that furry body pillow otherwise known as his bushy tail faintly wagging and dragging against the carpet just screamed to be cuddled with.

Hey, if they kissed the night before, surely she could ask him for a bit more? No, nothing like that you sicko. Just something to get them closer and to grow their already blossoming friendship. And with the storm raging on outside, she had plenty of time to do so. Why not?

Fox grinned and slowly approached the countertop. "So, uh, with this storm… I think I'm stuck here."

"I know," she grinned back, winking for good measure. "All day, just you, me, and Marcus if he ever decides to wake up."

Fox eyebrows shot up. "Oh, uh, is-is that okay? I mean, I-I don't want to be a burden if I—"

"Fox, it's okay," Alexis giggled, reaching over the counted to give him a gentle, playful smack on his shoulder. "I don't want you going out in that mess of a storm if you don't have to."

Fox's tail started flicking in nervousness. "So, you-you're saying I can stay?"

"Goodness yes," Alexis almost laughed aloud, skipping around the corner to brush up against the vulpine. "I don't mean to sound needy or anything, but I really want you to stay. Not only are you safer here, but we can enjoy each other's company while we're here. I've got plenty of things we can do to waste time, until this storm clears up… which they're saying won't happen for a few days. So…?"

Fox finally found the courage to smile and wrap his tail around her leg. "I like the sound of that. I guess I could stay and find out what you guys do for fun."

Alexis squealed and planted a long, drawn out kiss on the side of the tod's muzzle, making him blush furiously again. He looked over and saw her blushing as well as she pushed her think framed glasses farther up her nose, gently clutching her wrist behind her back as was her habit.

Fox was debating on kissing her back. He wanted to, and guaranteed she would like it just as much, but at the same time his natural nervousness bit him hard as soon as he looked into her eyes. Oh, how he wanted to abandon his comfort zone and return the affectionate gesture, but nothing of his mind or body would allow him to even move the slightest bit to get to him. He was stuck.

Alexis smiled and slowly leaned towards him, but the moment was abruptly interrupted when Fox's transmitter started buzzing and vibrating on the coffee table like a jackhammer. Fox politely excused himself and walked over to pick it up to potentially silence the awfully loud reverberations, but then he saw the caller ID. Not wasting any time, he accepted the call and awkwardly held the wristwatch up to his ear.

"Hello, this is Fox McCloud," he answered, checking to see if his translator was active—which it was to his relief.

"Good morning Mister McCloud," a vaguely familiar female voice replied, piquing Fox's interest. "How has your first week of university life gone for you?"

Fox lifted an eyebrow. "Things have been… fine…? Uh, I'm sorry, who is this?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, where are my manners?" the unknown caller giggled. "My name is Major Hari Felix. I've been appointed to serve as the acting officer of Lylatian relations, otherwise known as the unofficial Lylatian ambassador."

"Ah, I thought you sounded familiar," Fox grinned. "You were the one that helped me establish residence here."

"Indeed I was," Hari replied happily. "That was just the first step. From here on out I've been appointed to serve as a diplomatic ambassador of sorts for our eventual relations with Lylat. However, I will require your assistance."

"Ambassador?" Fox echoed questioningly. "Oh, no, no, no, this won't be necessary Major Felix, I don't need—"

"This is just for diplomatic relations, Mister McCloud," Hari interrupted stoically, contrasting her usual kind and warm demeanor. "As you are already aware of, we are attempting to establish a stable contact with your home system. I'm sure you are aware that this is the first instance of your kind in our system, and we wish to get a better grasp in order to improve our understanding. It's only natural we do this."

"Yes, I'm scheduled to travel down to the capital during my winter break," answered Fox, scratching the underside of his muzzle. "But, I honestly don't think we should do it so soon. I mean, I'm just starting to get used to the life here."

"I understand that Mister McCloud," Hari said with understanding. "However, I do not have the authority to call this off. The President himself wishes to speak with you directly, and immediately. This is his only opening for almost an entire year."

"Then I can wait a year," Fox deadpanned. "If this is for setting up relations I don't want any part of it right now. I don't want to establish contact so soon; I just got here."

"Oh, well, you see Mister McClo—"

"Fox," the vulpine interrupted, starting to get a little impatient. "It's Fox."

"_Fox_," the Major said with a disapproving inflection. "This simply will not do. We do not feel comfortable housing you here for an indeterminate amount of time without a firm connection to where you came from in the first place. We do not wish to invoke unnecessary conflict housing you without their knowledge or consent of you doing so."

"What are you talking about?" Fox almost snapped.

"What I'm saying is that this meeting during your winter break will have to be moved closer, as in… we wish to speak with you in person immediately," Hari stated. "We have already contacted your university and they agreed to suspend classes for you this week so that we can have you travel here. After then, once we get a firm connection with Lylat, you may return to your classes."

Fox's blood started to boil at the sureness of her tone. "With all due respect Major Felix, I can't accept these terms. I came here to get away from Lylat, and now that you're trying to establish a connection, my cover will be blown."

"I'm sorry Fox, but we really don't want to house someone of your kind without a proper connection to you origin," she answered. "We took you in because we would not turn someone like you down. Now that we have your records and history, we really do not feel comfortable with you "_hiding_" on our world."

"I'm not a criminal, Major," Fox argued. "I'm a war hero that got tired of the publicity. Can't I just stay here without contacting my home?"

"I'm afraid we can't do that," Hari said disappointedly. "With your history and publicity, this could invoke some unnecessary conflict if they were to find out you've been hiding here this whole time."

"I can assure you that won't happen," Fox said calmly and surely, sitting on the couch with his legs crossed.

"We are not taking any chances, Fox," she said sternly. "We need your full compliance here."

The vulpine started to get flustered. "I can't give myself away yet. Please, I need you to postpone this meeting."

"I'm sorry Fox, this is what we need to do," Hari said softly. "We will have someone pick you up at your doorstep in a day or two—weather permitting. I've been informed to tell you that if you refuse to attend, we have the right to revoke your housing and request you find another place to stay, or go back home. Like I said, we can't have you staying here without a proper connection. We don't feel comfortable enough to do so."

Fox let out a long sigh through his nose and let his ears lie flat. "Okay… but these communications will be on my terms."

"Explain."

Fox grunted and shifted on the couch. "My exact location is not to be disclosed. I wish to keep my privacy here."

Hari grunted back softly. "Hmm, I don't know…"

"And I need to be the one who speaks with whoever you call," the vulpine added. "I think they will take my presence better, no offence."

"None taken," Hari replied. "We'll see what we can do. I'm truly sorry if this is troubling for you, but it's what we must do. We're trying to be safe."

"I understand," Fox affirmed, nodding his head gently. "I just don't want the wrong people showing up if my location is given away. Please tell your superiors that my privacy is pivotal in these communications. There will be people sent after me if my name or location is given away, and they will stop at nothing to find me."

"Your secret is safe with me Fox," the Major said happily. "Thank you for your understanding. I will talk to our Director of Operations and see if we can conform to your demands. It shouldn't be a problem, but if it is we will let you know."

"Thank you Major," Fox smiled.

"Is there anything else I can help you with while I have you on the line?" Hari asked.

Fox glanced over at Alexis, who was almost done preparing breakfast in the kitchen, then quietly picked himself up and slipped into the hallway without her noticing. Lowering his voice just a little, Fox said, "Yes, uh… are there any nice restaurants here? Like, for… uh… a date or something?"

Major Felix giggled silently. "Lucky for you, my son goes to your university. He knows the ins and outs of the place, plus he's eager to meet you. I can send him details and maybe arrange a little meeting. How's that sound?"

"Great," Fox grinned. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Hari responded. "Remember, call me if you need anything. Take care Fox."

"You too," he said right as the call ended. Afterwards, he popped out of the hallway and peered into the kitchen where the female was putting the finishing touches on a very appetizing meal.

Alexis looked up and smiled. "Hungry?"

Fox couldn't help but smile back as his tail flicked wildly. "Well I am now," he stated with a hint of sarcasm.

She giggled and patted the table. "Come on. I want to know more about your home world. What's it like?"

The vulpine shrugged his shoulder and sat down at the table.

"Since we've got time, might as well. Let's start with the basic stuff…"


End file.
